Bandos Maldives Kicks Off Festive Celebrations
From next month, Air India will be re-commencing direct flights from the Maldives to two additional Indian cities.
At the moment, Air India flies directly to the Maldives from Trivandrum only. However, from 5th February onwards, Air India will commence direct flights from and to Bangalore and New Delhi as well.
After halting temporarily flights to the Maldives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Air India restarted operations to the island destination on 25th August 2020. Passengers looking to travel on Air India are able to book their tickets via Villa Travels. Furthermore, passengers who are travelling to India on Air India must be carrying a negative RT-PCR test report conducted no earlier than 96 hours prior to their flight.
Last year, India was the top source market for tourism in the Maldives. According to statistics publicised by the Tourism Ministry, Indian tourists made up 11.3 percent of total tourist arrivals to the Maldives in 2020.
Maldives reopened borders to all nationalities from 15th July 2020. All visitors are granted a 30-day free on-arrival visa with a confirmed booking for a stay at any registered tourist facility in the country.
Maldives has also extended ‘Split Stay’ for all types of tourist accommodation facilities, allowing tourists to split their stay between resort, hotels, guesthouses and liveaboard boats, with prior approval as per split-stay procedure and guideline by the Ministry of Tourism.
While there is no mandatory quarantine or testing on arrival, tourists traveling to Maldives are required to complete an online health declaration form and provide a negative PCR test result taken at least 96 hours prior to their departure.
The negative PCR test result must be attached while completing Traveler Health Declaration form, which has to be submitted online via IMUGA (www.imuga.immigration.gov.mv), by all arriving passengers before arrival (but not exceeding 24 hours before arrival time).
