Maldivian commences flights to Sri Lanka

Colombo 19 November 2008. Maldivian, the airline division of Island Aviation Services of the Maldives commenced its scheduled operations to Colombo effective 06 November 2008.

Maldivian will initially operate five daily flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Flights leave Malé at 1800hrs and arrive in Colombo at 2030hrs while flights leaving Colombo at 2115hrs arrive in the Maldivian capital at 2245hrs (all local times)

According to the Maldivian sources, two types of aircraft, Bombardier Dash8 Q300 (50 seats) and Q200 (37 seats) will be utilised by Maldivian for operations to and from Colombo. This is the second destination which has been included in Maldivian International network after Trivandrum in India.

Free lounge facilities will also be offered to all passengers who travel on Maldivian. They can avail themselves of the ‘Palm Strip Lounge’ in Colombo and the “Finifenmaa” Lounge in Malé.

Managing Director of Maldivian, Bandhu Ibrahim Saleem said that he was happy with commencement of the flights to Sri Lanka. “Given the vast tourist potential between our two countries, we foresee a booming business and great promise in this sector”.

Maldivian is represented in Sri Lanka by Hemas Aviation (Pvt) Ltd, the GSA for Maldivian since 01 Dec 2000.

Head of Hemas Aviation Chamara Ranasinghe was delighted that the air link between Sri Lanka and Maldives is further enhanced by the arrival of Maldivian. “This will undoubtedly give the Sri Lankan market a greater choice of airlines and further assist passengers to conveniently link with their internal route network within the Maldives”, he said.

Head of Hemas Transportation sector Imtiaz Esufally noted that the company has over a decade long relationship with Maldivian, and looked forward to supporting and growing with them, in the years to come.

Maldivian is the airline division of Island Aviation Services based in Male in the Maldives. It operates international flights in addition to inter-island services. Its main base is Male International Airport.

The Government of the Republic of the Maldives, under a Presidential decree, incorporated Island Aviation Services Limited on 13 April 2000, as a limited liability Company which is hundred percent owned by the Government of Maldives. On 25 August 2008 the airline division of Island Aviation Services was re-branded as Maldivian.

The Company’s core business activities include Domestic Air Services, Ground Handling, Cargo Services at Malé International Airport, Operation of CIP lounge at Malé International Airport, Engineering Services and Flight Operations.

To meet the challenges, Island Aviation Services Limited is committed to providing the highest possible levels of service to its principal airlines and passengers by use of automation, modernisation and with a trained and motivated team of staff that form an integral part of the business.