Tourism Ministry has said that flights will be starting from two of the most important markets, China and Italy, before the end of the next month.

A report on the COVID-19 situation in the Maldives released by the Tourism Ministry yesterday said that airlines set to begin flight operations to the Maldives this year include China Southern Airlines and the Italian leisure airline, Neos.

Both airlines are set to begin flights this October or the following month. And it is unclear if these are scheduled flights or flights aimed for the high season of tourism.

More flights are set to begin in the same time frame according to the Ministry including Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, FlyDubai, Gulf Air, India’s GoAir, Nordwind and the Russian charter airline, Azur.

Among these airlines, GoAir, is set begin flights on 1 November while Luftansa, Nordwind and FlyDubai are all set to start flights on 27 October and the Austrian Airlines is set to start on 25 October according to the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Currently, there are 11 international airlines traveling to the Maldives. They are; Aeroflot, IndiGo Airlines, Spice Jet, Emirates, Ithihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, British Airways and Edelweiss Air.