National Airline, Maldivian is seeking financing to acquire two more ATR aircraft.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the airline said that they are seeking financing to acquire two ATR 42-600 aircraft for the company. This is the final stage of order confirmation for the purchase of two 42-600 aircraft with the ATR company.

Maldivian revealed that one of the aircraft will be delivered to the country in the last quarter of this year and the other in the first quarter of 2025.

Those willing to finance the two aircraft will have to seek the details by July 18 and submit their proposal by July 22.

The ATR aircraft have a lower operating cost compared to the Dash 8 aircraft currently used by the company. While the difficulty of procuring spares and the cost of buying spares are high, ATR aircraft have lower fuel costs and lower maintenance costs. The change will also ease the financial burden on the company due to the Dash 8 aircraft.

Maldivian had also recently brought in three ATR aircraft and has since started using them. Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL) signed during the month of January last year to buy three ATR aircraft with the French firm ATR.

As part of the agreement, two aircraft were brought to the Maldives in January this year. These are two completely new ATR 600-72. Both aircraft have also started operations. In early April, a completely new ATR 400-72 was brought in.