Maldivian (IATA: Q2), (Island Aviation Services) the national airline of Maldives, has added an Airbus A320 to its fleet and will be shortly launching three new international destinations.
Photo credit: YPspotter32
The airline will be launching new service to Chennai and Mumbai in India, and Dhaka in Bangladesh. It's first Airbus A320, pictured above, will be configured with 14 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy and 114 Economy Class seats.
Chennai - Dhaka
There has historically been significant O&D traffic between Dhaka and Maldives, albeit not sufficient to warrant a non-stop service. Maldivian is using the Chennai stop to cater for this, and also appears to hold fifth freedom rights between Chennai and Dhaka - another city pair presently without direct service. The route begins on 18th November.
Male - Chennai - Dhaka vv
Q2 550 MLE Dep 0700 - 0940 MAA 1040 - DAC Arr 1340 320 D246
Q2 551 DAC Dep 1440 - 1640 MAA 1740 - MLE Arr 1920 320 D246
Mumbai
Mumbai is a new addition to Maldivian's international network and will launch with three weekly services beginning on 15th November.
Q2 710 MLE BOM 0830 1200 320 D357
Q2 711 BOM MLE 1300 1530 320 D357
Map generated via Great Circle Mapper
The airline has used the rest of the flying hours of its A320, to be utilized on flights to Trivandrum - its only other international destination, presently served on-board Dash 8 aircraft.
Q2700 MLE TRV 0800 0945 320 D1
Q2700 MLE TRV 1630 1815 320 D357
Q2700 MLE TRV 2020 2205 320 D246
Q2701 TRV MLE 1045 1130 320 D1
Q2701 TRV MLE 1915 2000 320 D357
Q2701 TRV MLE 2305 2350 320 D246
Success of Maldivian's foray into international jet aircraft operations - specially with a three class premium heavy narrow-body configuration - still remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure - that it is going to be an exciting period for the Maldivian aviation industry.
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