After a lull of almost four months on account of coronavirus pandemic, few countries are now beginning to receive international travellers. One of which, Maldives has now allowed international passengers to visit the country starting July 15.
On Wednesday, Maldives Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid announced the arrival of the first flight bringing in international passengers to Male since the coronavirus pandemic restricted air travel to the tourism-dependent nation in the Indian Ocean in March.
"Our borders are open for visitors once again and the first flight has just landed!," read the tweet by the foreign minister.
India plans to set air bubble to the Maldives
As for travellers from India, citizens willing to travel to the Maldives will soon have the option of booking flights to Male as India is considering establishing an air bubble or air travel bridge to the island country soon.
As part of the arrangement, a limited number of flights would operate from select Indian airports to the Maldives. For now, 16 international airlines have announced flights to the Maldives from July 15, according to IE.
Commerical International flights remain suspended
It can be noted that while domestic flights have been resumed on selected routes, international flights continue to be suspended barring Vande Bharat Mission flights to 17 countries. Though not confirmed, the Ministry of Civil Aviation might announce the resumption of international flights from August as the fourth phases of Vande Bharat comes to an end on July 30, 2020.
Whichever the flight operation, travellers to the Maldives would be able to book most of the hotels, resorts, and guesthouses from July 15 itself. However, some of the establishment situated on inhabited islands would be open to the public from August 1.
Tourists will not be required to submit any medical test results but would be required to submit a health declaration form online within 24 hours before reaching the Maldives.
Tourists with a history of contact with confirmed or suspected COVID 19 patient in 14 days have been advised not to travel to the country to limit the chances of any infection.
