Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has announced the national carrier, Maldivian, will operate repatriation flights to evacuate Maldivians stranded abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign Minister Shahid stated Maldivian will arrange repatriation flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Trivandrum, India. The minister revealed special arrangements will be made to assist Maldivians in seeking to return back to the country.
Meanwhile, Manager PR and Communications at Maldivian Moosa Waseem said the national airline has arranged repatriation flights to other destinations as well to evacuate Maldivians stranded in other countries.
Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL), which operates Maldivian, states a 50-seat aircraft will be used to carry Maldivians from Colombo, Sri Lanka, while a 200-seat aircraft will be used for the evacuation from Chennai, India. Maldivian will operate the first repatriation flight to Colombo on Sunday and to Chennai on Monday.
IASL revealed the flight to Colombo on April 5 has reached full capacity.