Charter flights will be launched in August to bring North African tourists to the Maldives.

Charter flights are expected to be launched by the private company, Inner Maldives.

The company's owner, Mohammed Firag, said in a Facebook post that he had held discussions with Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal and MMPRC interim MD Bassam Adam in preparation for the launch of charter flights in August this year.

“The purpose of these activities is to engage the North African market and strengthen tourism linkages,” he said.

North Africa includes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and the Western Sahara.

According to the MMA, 5,378 scheduled flights were operated in the first month of this year. The number of chartered flights was 604.