GoAir has launched its flight operations to the Maldives, directly connecting Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai to Male at an affordable return fare.
The inaugural flight landed at the Maldives main Velana International Airport Sunday afternoon.
“We are excited to see GoAir expanding its presence to Maldives.” This provides Indian and Maldivian passengers with an easy and convenient option to connect between Maldives and Indian two major cities, which will increase the traffic of tourists to both countries,” Ibrahim Faizal, Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said.
GoAir commenced its operations to the Maldives with three non-stop flight services per week between Mumbai – Male – Mumbai and two direct flight services per week between Delhi – Male – Delhi, at starting all-inclusive fares of USD 230 and USD 260, respectively.
“This new route to Maldives continues our purpose of connecting smart travellers to what’s important in their lives. This route will make it easier and faster for Indian travellers to reach the Sunny side of Maldives and Maldivians the possibility to reach Mumbai and Delhi more conveniently,” GoAir Vice President Arujun Dasgupta said.
In November 2005, GoAir launched its operations as a low-fare carrier to commoditise air travel and offer airline seats at a marginal premium to train fares across India. The airline currently operates over 230 daily flights and approximately 1,600 weekly flights across 25 destinations — 23 domestic and two international.
At a special function held at Hotel Jen in Male Sunday evening, award-winning travel company Voyages Maldives was appointed as the General Sales Agent (GSA) for GoAir in Maldives.
Established in 1980, Voyages Maldives has been in the travel and tour business for more than 35 years, and is one of the most trusted one-stop shop for many Maldivian travellers. Voyages Maldives is also the GSA for British Airways, Lufthansa and Alitalia as well as the Passenger Sales Agent (PSA) for Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Bangkok Airways and Maldivian.
Flagship carriers of the Maldives and India currently operate scheduled flights to and from major cities, including Bangalore, Trivandrum and Chennai. Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet also operates daily direct connections between Kochi and Male as well as Trivandrum and Male.
However, no scheduled direct service exists between Male and Delhi as well as Male and Mumbai.
Introduction of flight operations by another Indian low-cost airline — and to and from two of the major business and tourism hubs in India — is expected to help both the countries, and further boost tourist arrivals to the Maldives from India, which has become a major emerging source market for the Maldives’ tourism industry.
Official figures show that 83,019 tourists arrived in Maldives from its closest neighbour last year, a 24 percent increase from the 66,955 Indian travellers that chose the Maldives in 2017.
That growth is expected to continue this year as well, as the number of Indian tourists that visited the Maldives recorded a 4.4 percent increase in the January-August period of this year to reach 51,075 compared to 48,939 in the same period last year.
Maldives has also become a sought after destination by Bollywood stars.
Famous Bollywood stars who have vacationed in the Maldives include Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti Chopra, the Bachchan family, Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi, and Sonakshi Sinha.
Tickets for the new flights can be booked through Voyages Maldives, by phone (+960 301 8877 / +960 301 8866), email (goair@voyagesmaldives.com), or in person. Voyages Maldives’ offices are located on Chaandhanee Magu.
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