Russia’s national airline Aeroflot has announced plans to increase its flight frequency to the Maldives from 1 October.
Aeroflot’s flight from Moscow to Male’s Velana International Airport will increase from the current schedule of four weekly flights to seven per week.
Three additional flights are scheduled to commence on 1 November and will be operated on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The airline also plans to increase flight frequency to Colombo, Sri Lanka from 9 September.
Russia is currently the top tourist market to the Maldives with 133,320 visitors as of 9 August, representing a 11.9% market share.
Russia was also the top market in early 2022 but arrivals plummeted 70% after Aeroflot suspended international flights in March over fears that its planes could be impounded over the war in Ukraine. But two airlines, Azure and Nordwind, continued to operate charter flights and Russian tourists were also able to travel to the Maldives via Qatar Airways, Emirates and Srilankan Airlines.
Aeroflot resumed flights to the Maldives on 13 May 2022 after a two-month hiatus and Russia was soon back among the top source markets for tourists.
