In the August 8 issue of TNW, we reported that direct charters to the Maldives will operate from November 24.
There will be eight round-trip flights between November 24, 2018 and January 12, 2019. The flights are to Gan, one of the southernmost islands.
These flights will be operated through a charter agreement between Air Tour Operators, SAA and the Ministry of Tourism in the Maldives. Starlight Holidays has been appointed sole GSA for Air Tour Operators for this routes.
These flights are separate to Maldivian Airlines’ planned flights between Johannesburg and Malé.
Following the publication of the article, Zephnie Viljoen, director of Perfect Destinations, commented: “As the marketing agent for Maldivian Airlines, Perfect Destinations is only able to release official information on the service that Maldivian Airlines will be launching, which will be two flights per week between Johannesburg and the International airport of Malé. We want to make it clear that we are in no way affiliated with this charter route.”
Perfect Destinations also stated that a commencement date for Maldivian Airlines had still not been finalised. “The delays we are experiencing have been with the onward route to Beijing, where approval for landing slots is still outstanding,” said Shona Pittaway, md of Perfect Destinations. “At such time as the airline advises us that it has been successful in this regard, we will be able to commence with sales.”
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