Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) has revealed international flight movement of Velana International Airport (VIA) has increased 5.25% in the second month after borders were reopened.
Borders were reopened for international operations on July 15, more than three months after borders were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MACL said a notable increase has been observed in flight activity of VIA in the second month after borders were reopened. As such, MACL revealed 441 international flight movements, including inbound and outbound flights, were recorded between August 16 and September 15, as compared to 419 flights between July 15 and August 15.
MACL further revealed the number of passengers arriving on international flights have increased significantly in the second month after reopening borders. As such, 12,883 passengers arrived during the second month, which is a 69% increase over the first month, when only 7,607 arrivals were recorded. The number of departing passengers had also increased from 9,241 to 14,984, representing a 62% increase.
Although international flight movement has increased in the second month, domestic flight movement decreased during this period. Statistics revealed domestic flight movement was recorded at 310 in the second month, which was 14.36% lower than the 362 flight movements recorded in the first month. Departure and arrival of domestic passengers had also decreased by 19.7% and 2.99% respectively.