Male’ Maldives, 25th April 2022 – Aeroflot, Russia’s national carrier and largest airline, will recontinue operation to the Maldives from 13 May 2022. Daily direct flights between Male’, Maldives and Moscow, Russia will be operated on the Airbus A330. Passengers travelling on earlier dates can fly to the Maldives via SriLankan Airlines’ connecting flights from Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Maldives Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has given Aeroflot the greenlight to resume flights and reassured them the air service agreement between the two countries remains unchanged. Airport authorities in the Maldives will also provide Aeroflot with aircraft services such as ground handling and fuelling services as required for the flights.
Russia had previously suspended all international flights effective 8 March 2022, following the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Maldives was amongst the destinations that suffered the most from flight cancellations as Russia is one of its strongest markets, accounting for 15.5% of all tourist arrivals prior to flight suspensions. Since then, Russia has fallen from 1st to 3rd position in the market. The Aeroflot alone carried over 300 tourists and made two trips daily between the Maldives and Moscow, indicating the significance of the detrimental loss to Maldivian tourism due to discontinued flights. The decision to recontinue flights is a crucial move for the Maldives to recover from the previous drop in tourist arrivals and maintain the Russian market.
