Island Aviation Managing Director Ibrahim Iyas has stated that Maldivian expects to bring its second wide-body aircraft to the Maldives later this year, with the airline also preparing to launch flights to Russia and South Korea.

Speaking on a State media programme, Iyas said the national airline had faced several challenges in acquiring the aircraft, including high global demand for wide-body jets and limited market availability.

He explained that efforts to secure the aircraft began after Maldivian introduced its first Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft into service in January last year. However, the process took longer than initially anticipated due to difficulties in finding a suitable aircraft amid strong international demand.

Iyas said discussions held with aircraft manufacturer Airbus had yielded positive progress, expressing confidence that the airline would receive the second aircraft by the end of this year.

He noted that the airline carried out feasibility studies and sought international technical consultancy to identify commercially viable routes and priority markets for tourism.

Based on those assessments, Maldivian is now working towards launching flights to Russia and South Korea once the second wide-body aircraft enters operations.

“With this work, we conducted international professional consultancy work and feasibility studies to identify which destinations should be prioritised in bringing tourists to the Maldives. Based on those findings, we are currently working to launch flights to Russia and South Korea with the arrival of the second wide-body aircraft,” Iyas said.

Maldivian introduced its first Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft on 1 January last year as part of efforts to expand the airline’s operational capacity.

Since then, the national airline has launched services to Saudi Arabia, several cities in China, as well as India and Bangladesh.