The national airline, Maldivian, has evacuated 195 Maldivian nationals stranded in Malaysia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The locals were evacuated by the joint efforts of the national carrier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives and the High Commission of the Maldives in Malaysia.
Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL) stated a chartered flight will be operated on June 17 to repatriate another batch of locals stranded in Malaysia. IASL added similar operations will be conducted to bring back Maldivians stranded in Sri Lanka as well.
So far, Maldivian has operated about 40 flights to different destinations, bringing in over 4,000 locals stranded in other countries. Furthermore, Maldivian has also operated chartered flights to repatriate expatriates in the Maldives to their respective countries.
Additionally, Maldivian has carried over 700 tonnes of cargo to the Maldives to ensure the country is stocked with a sufficient supply of food and other necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic.