Charter flights to Maldives delayed

ATO’s once-weekly, nonstop charter flights to Gan International Airport in the southern Maldives, have been suspended due to low load factors. The flights were introduced in December and January and, after a successful launch period, Air Tour Operators (ATO) signed a new charter agreement with SAA to resume the once-weekly  flights between April 21 and January 31. ATO says the service has been suspended and expects flights to resume in September. “We saw a lot of uncertainty filter through to the industry during the lead-up to elections. As a result, we decided to suspend the flights. The majority of passengers affected moved to later dates and those that decided to cancel their trips were given full refunds, with the travel agents keeping 
their commission. “We have seen a strong upturn for booking requests later in the year with forward bookings looking very positive, particularly for December and January,” says md of ATO, Keith Gow.
Keith adds that the beauty of the charter agreement that ATO has in place with SAA is that it can be adjusted based on market conditions. Although agents have  said that ATO is good at honouring commission commitments, agents say the limited number of hotels in the south has affected their ability to sell the region. Shirani Gaymans, a consultant at Hashtag Holidays, says the majority of the properties that
her clients request are closer to Malé Airport in the north. She says the Maldives has always been an expensive destination, out of reach  of many South Africans,  and the current exchange rate has not helped the situation this year. ATO is expanding its product range and can now also assist agents with internal connections on Maldivian Airlines to destinations like Malé and Gaafu Alifu, says Keith. ATO now also sells packages for a number of resorts near Malé and offers 12 additional resorts (including upmarket brands such as the Park Hyatt, Mercure, Amari, Raffles,  The Outrigger and Robinson Club) in the Gaafu Alifu atoll near Gan. “We are continuously expanding our product range and will shortly also announce a number of exciting incentives to reward agents for their support on the route,” says Keith