KOCHI: Travel enthusiasts in the city can cheer as Maldivian, the national carrier of the Republic of Maldives, is all set to operate flights from Kochi. Owned by Island Aviation Services Ltd, the service from Kochi will start on October 28. The flight will operate from Kochi to Hanimaadhoo, which is located at Haa Dhaalu Atol Island in the north of the Maldives. The flight will operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. “Currently, we have a daily flight from Male to Thiruvananthapuram.
Apart from it, two weekly flights from Hanimaadhoo to Thiruvananthapuram are also operational. The new flight from Kochi will help in attracting tourists to our country. There is a misconception that we only have luxury tourism in the Maldives. However, we provide very economic tourism packages which travellers from India can easily afford. The new flight route will also help trade between the two countries,” said Aisath Jeniffer, Deputy Managing Director of Maldivian.
The ticket rate is around Rs 10,000 and there are connecting flights from Hanimaadhoo to Male and the travel time is around one hour. The Maldives provides Visa-on-Arrival facility for Indian tourists. “We will be operating a 50-seater flight now. There are also several Indians working in the Maldives. A majority of people from the Maldives travel to Thiruvananthapuram for medical purpose,” Ahmed Ibrahim, Director, Ground Operations, Maldivian, said.