Portugal’s SATA Air Açores will start direct flights to the Maldives from July 2021 onwards. Local media Avas reports that these charter flights will be organized by the airline’s Maldives agent, Inner Maldives.
According to Avas, a team from Portugal including businessmen, investors, government officials and media personnel will arrive in the Maldives on 20th May to designate the commencement of the operations. Furthermore, a special ‘Portugal Night’ is set to be held.
SATA Air Açores is a Portuguese airline based in São Sebastião, Ponta Delgada in the Azores, Portugal. The airline operates scheduled passenger, cargo and mail services around the Azores. Additionally, SATA air manages four regional airports.
Currently, 29 airlines are operating flights to the Maldives from all over the world. Flyers have the option to choose from budget airlines operating regular flights to the Maldives as well. Recently, the flag carrier of Spain, Iberia has also announced to start operations to the Maldives in July 2021.
After reopening its border back in July 2020, the Maldives stepped ahead in the global tourism industry. The country was bestowed the prestigious World’s Leading Destination Award 2020 from World Travel Awards. Moreover, Maldives reached its goal to welcome more than 500,000 visitors in 2020 (a total of 555,494 arrivals recorded).
Also read: Choosing a Villa in the Maldives: Beach, Overwater or Underwater?
For 2021, the island archipelago targets to welcome 1.5 million tourists. According to the latest statistics from the Maldives’ Ministry of tourism, 373,046 tourists arrived in the Maldives by 24th April 2021. Likewise, the average number of daily arrivals is 3,272. The ministry also revealed that tourists spent an average of 9 days in the Maldives.
The Tourism Minister of the Maldives, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom announced plans to launch a ‘visit, vaccinate, vacation’ initiative. Likewise, tourism ministry revealed tourists will spend over 10 million bed nights in the Maldives this year.
Feature image via www.essential-business.pt
