Flyme announces plans for China, India operations

Flyme, which is owned by Villa Air, has announced plans to begin operations to India and China. 

Permissions for the flight operations were granted by the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority on September 3, for regions of Asia. The company stated that plans were being formed to obtain two more flights and start operations to India and China as well as Sri Lanka. 

“As soon as borders of Sri Lanka open, Flights will operate to Ratmalana International Airport. They have not decided on when they will reopen.” Said Nashidh the Managing Director of Villa Air.

Work was underway to bring in two A319 narrow-body aircraft for the operations. 

“Permission is yet to be obtained from the government of India. We estimate that flights can be started by December with the permissions. We are also working to start operations in China in the first quarter of 2021.” Said Nashidh. 

The plan was to commence flights to India’s New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad as well as to China’s Chengdu and Kunming. 

“The plan is to conduct 12 flights in total to these six destinations.” Said Nashidh. 

India and China remain two important sources of tourist arrivals to the Maldives. The local airline halted domestic operations due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in March.