Emirates Adds Seven New Flights A Week To Maldives

Dubai-based airline Emirates has announced that it will begin a third daily service to Male, the capital of Maldives.

The service, which is scheduled to begin on December 1, will add seven more inbound flights a week to Maldives and will help boost cargo and passenger capacity on the route, the airline said in a statement.

Emirates flight EK656 will depart from Dubai International Airport at 0210hrs, and arrive in Male at 0715hrs. Meanwhile, the outbound flight EK657 will depart Male International Airport, Hulhule at 0845hrs and arrive in Dubai at 1155hrs.

“The Maldives has proven to be a strong market for leisure and family travel,” said Ahmed Khoory, Emirates’ senior vice president, commercial operations- West Asia and Indian Ocean.

“Increased cargo capacity on the route will also help facilitate business between the Maldives and its key trading markets.”

The new flights will be operated with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two class configuration, adding 294 business class and 2,702 economy class seats each way per week on the route, as well as 23 tonnes of additional capacity for cargo per flight.

Emirates, which launched services to Male in 1987, currently operates two daily flights to Maldives with a third flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka stopping over in Male.

The Dubai-based carrier has been growing rapidly as it introduced new routes and expanded capacity.

Emirates, which posted a profit growth of Dhs1.9 billion for the first half of this year, said that it expected its profit to grow from eight to 10 per cent in the coming months over new routes and aircraft.

The airline also carried 23.3 million passengers between April 1-September 30, up 8.4 per cent, the statement said.