Dubai-based airline, flydubai has announced today the resumption of flights to Malé, the capital of the island nation, the Maldives. The service, which the carrier initially operated between 2013 and 2018, will be reinstated from 27 October due to popular demand as the Indian Ocean destination welcomed back tourists of all nationalities earlier this summer.
flydubai flights will operate 4 times a week to Malé on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Flight FZ 1569 will depart from Terminal 3, Dubai International (DXB) at 10:35 and the return flight FZ 1570 will depart from Maldives’ Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (MLE) at 23:30 (local time). This brings the number of destinations flydubai operates to 40 across its network in Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East.
Commenting on the start of flights to Malé, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “We continue to see signs of recovery as more countries start to lift restrictions on international travel. Working together, all the stakeholders in the travel industry have a role to play to safeguard travel in this new environment enabling more people to travel confidently. We remain agile in our operations and committed to gradually adding more flights to further support the flow of trade and tourism around the region as we look ahead to this new way of travel in the months to come.”
The carrier has been steadily increasing its operations since July and continues to operate all-cargo flights and repatriation flights in addition to its published schedule. The new service to the Maldives will give passengers more access to a holiday destination from Dubai and further afield whether connecting on the flydubai network or through its codeshare with Emirates.
In line with the comprehensive COVID-19 safe tourism guidelines and hygiene certification programme issued by the Maldivian Ministry of Tourism in June, all 156 resorts situated in the island nation will be required to take protective measures, ensuring the safety of tourists and also staff working in the industry.
Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations (UAE, GCC, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent) at flydubai, said: “We are pleased to restart our operations to the Maldives. This has always been a popular destination for our passengers in the UAE, GCC and the Russian speaking markets who are seeking a beach holiday. With Holidays by flydubai expanding its hotels and ancillary offering, we are now able to offer our passengers full packages at affordable prices whether they choose to fly in Business or Economy.”
By combining internally sourced wholesale hotel rates and rates provided by third parties with competitive airfares, Holidays by flydubai offers extremely competitive travel packages. Customers will also have the option to add ancillary services to their holiday experience, including airport transfers, sightseeing packages, UAE visa facilitation, car rental and excursions.
flydubai has recently introduced a new COVID-19 cover to encourage more people to travel with ease of mind knowing that they will be looked after at every step of their journey. Passengers booking with flydubai for travel between 01 September and 30 November 2020 will automatically receive free global cover for COVID-19. The new service covers passengers’ health expenses and quarantine costs if diagnosed with COVID-19 during their trip.
In the UAE, flydubai has also partnered with Aster DM Healthcare and NMC Healthcare to offer passengers PCR testing at special rates. To take advantage of these special rates, passengers must be able to present a valid flydubai booking confirmation along with their Emirates ID or passport copy.
flydubai’s passenger experience has been redesigned to enable travel in a safe environment that minimizes crew and passenger contact. Passengers are required to make sure that they are up to date with the regulations from the IATA Travel Centre for their whole journey, and follow the guidance issued by the authorities and the airline. The Maldives has restarted its visa on arrival facility. Passengers must complete a “Traveller Health Declaration” 24 hours before arrival at https://imuga.immigration.gov.mv/.
