News about Maldives - Airliners-India

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Date: Jun 4, 2006

News about Maldives	Permalink Closed

--- Nothing much about Maldives and its airline, but Emirates and Sri Lankan seems to be their unofficial airlines. Maldives to host the Oakley - SriLankan Airlines Pro Surfing World Qualifying Series. For the 6th year running the Maldives will host another Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world class surfing event in the stunning tropical islands – this time cosponsored by Oakley and Srilankan Airlines. The 4 star rated ASP Australasia rated World Qualifying Series (WQS) will be held from 8-11 June 2006 at the never before used location of ‘Pasta Point’ on the south western tip of Dhonveli Beach Resort & Spa, which offers one of the world’s premier left hand point breaks located in the famous North Male Atoll. High level surfing action with ASP competitors from Australia, Hawaii, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Europe are expected to compete for the prize money of US$ 75,000. The Maldives is becoming an increasingly popular surf destination for enthusiastic world travelling surfers. Leading Australian World Qualifying Series surfer Adam Robertson described the upgrade announcement by saying "This is fantastic news, the Maldives is such a great event with perfect weather, amazingly warm waters and great quality waves. We all love going there to compete because we know we're in for a real quality event." Mitch Thorson, Surf Marketing Manager, Oakley South Pacific says “Oakley is proud to begin an association with the ASP Australasia and Sri Lankan Airlines, and we look forward to developing a long term relationship with the Maldives and its people.” “The Maldives represents all of the allure of living the surfing dream – tropical islands, perfect waves, incredible weather, great hospitality – we’re super fired up about this project!” _________________________________________________________________ Dubai-Maldives tourism co-operation discussed A high-level ministerial delegation from the Republic of Maldives held discussions with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) officials, focusing on ways to strengthen the bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in tourism domain. United Arab Emirates: Sunday, May 14 - 2006 at 14:56 GMT+4 DTCM Director General, Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem, and other DTCM officials holding talks with the Republic of Maldives ministerial delegation at the DTCM Head Office. The delegation, comprising of Mr. Hamdun A Hameed, Minister of Planning and National Development, Mr. Mahamood Shougee, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mr. Mohamed Mauroof Jameel, Minister of Construction and Public Infrastructure, and Mr. Ibrahim Rafeeq, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, visited Dubai from May 11 to 13. The team called on the DTCM Director General, Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem, at the DTCM Head Office on Saturday and exchanged views about tourism and infrastructure development issues. Mr. Awadh Seghayer Al Ketbi, Director of Dubai Convention Bureau, Mr. Hamad bin Mejren, DTCM Manager Missions, Mr. Eyad Ali Abdul Rahman, DTCM Manager Media Relations, and Mr. Khalifa Ali Buamaim, DTCM Manager Overseas Promotions, accompanied Mr. bin Sulayem during the talks. The delegation members informed the DTCM officials that the main purpose of their visit was to get familiarized with the developments in Dubai, particularly visitors' attractions and infrastructure, and learn first-hand from the emirate's success story in different economic domains, ranging from airport management to real estate developments and hospitality industry expansion. DTCM arranged a presentation on 'Dubai Experience' that highlighted the evolution of Dubai's tourism industry and the crucial role that DTCM has been playing in giving a major fillip to the hospitality sector. The Maldivian Minister of Planning and National Development, Mr. Hamdun Hameed, said: 'Dubai is an excellent example of tourism development and its successful role in contributing to the economy. Dubai's vision is phenomenal. Dubai is setting the trend. We wanted to see Dubai to gain first hand experience. What amazes us the most is the speed of development (of destination).' Mr. bin Sulayem said Dubai's tourism growth agenda forms part of the overall development master plan for the emirate. The department, he said, has been successfully promoting and marketing Dubai in source markets through a variety of tools, including participation in major trade exhibitions and holding road shows. He said the pace of development of tourism in the emirate was in line with the expectations of the tourism industry and designed to achieve the goal of attracting more tourists from different parts of the world in the coming years. Last year, Dubai's 407 hotels and hotel apartments played host to 6.2 million guests, 14 % more than the previous year. There had been a five per cent growth in the number of Dubai hotel guests from the Indian Ocean republic of more than 1,000 islands with a total population of 300,000. A total of 31 weekly flights are available between Dubai and Maldives, served by Emirates and Sri Lankan airlines. __________________ KCM

TKMCE

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Date: Jun 4, 2006

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Maldives is also one of Indian Airlines oldest overseas destinations and the Trivandrum Maldives link has been operating for a long long time. THere was also a very brief Maldives Mumbai link.

Air Maldives operated in the 1990s for a few yeayrs between Trivandrum and Male with onward connections to the Middle East. The airline ceased operations a few years ago (atlkeast in their trunk routes).

Also till recently Air Seychelles had fifth freedom rights between Mumbai and Nale on their bi weekly BOM MLE SEZ services using 737 NGs.

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karatecatman

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Date: Aug 8, 2006

New national airline in the Maldives?	Permalink Closed

http://www.luchtzak.be/article12286.html New national airline in the Maldives? Posted on Monday, August 07 @ 16:18:13 CEST by sn26567 Qatari officials are ready to begin deliberations on establishing a national airline in the Maldives. The Emir of Qatar ordered them to finalise the preliminary studies as soon as possible. These are expected to be completed in about 3 months. As a counterpart of establishing a national airline in the Maldives, its President Gayoom, offered the Qataris investment opportunities in the tourism sector. Air Maldives, the former national flag carrier (L6) founded by Maldivian President Nasir in 1974, was sensationally declared bankrupt in March 2000 with losses estimated at $50 million, after launching the year before commercially unviable routes to major destinations in Europe and Asia using three new Airbuses, each leased for $1 million a month. Maldives has two airports with permanent-surface runways more than 2,440 meters long, one located adjacent to Male on Hulele Island, known as Male International Airport, and the other on Gan Island in the southernmost Addu Atoll, which is scheduled to become an international airport. The Maldivian economy is based on tourism and fishing. Limitations on potable water and arable land constrain expansion. For the moment, the largest company providing national flights is the Maldivian Air Taxi, a foreign investment. Three companies including state owned Island Aviation operate in this sector. *** Qataris Could Fund National Airline By Taimour Lay in Male' August 6, 2006 President Gayoom returned from his trip to the Gulf this weekend claiming that Qatari officials were ready to begin deliberations on establishing a national airline in the Maldives. Foreign minister Dr. Shaheed was also quoted in the pro-government Haveeru newspaper saying that ‘the Emir of Qatar ordered them to finalise this as soon as possible. I envisage that the studies will be completed in about 3 months. This is a business relationship and will depend on the outcome of the studies.’ Air Maldives, the former national flag carrier founded by President Nasir in 1974, was sensationally declared bankrupt in March 2000 with losses estimated at $50 million. In late 1999, the airline had launched commercially unviable routes to major destinations in Europe and Asia using three new Airbuses, each leased for $1 million a month. Soon after Air Maldives director and NSS leader Anbaree Abdul Sattar signed the agreements, the airline was forced to cease all local and international operations. The scandal was never fully investigated, in particular the role played by Malaysian tycoon Tajudin Ramil. Since 1994 the airline had operated as a joint venture, with Ramil’s company ‘Naluri’ holding a 49% stake. Ramil was the biggest shareholder of Malaysian Airlines at the time and took over the day to day running of Air Maldives. The government accuses him of making the decisions that led to the carrier’s downfall. Critics say that Gayoom wanted a prestige international airline at any cost and turned a blind eye to the company's shady financial operations. During his week long trip to the Gulf, the President also called for aid to help the government reduce the budget deficit and offered investment opportunities in the tourism sector. -- Edited by karatecatman at 13:38, 2006-08-08 __________________ KCM