Oman Air the newest entrant to the Maldivian skies will commence operations on the 24th with 04 weekly flights to Male, with convenient connections to the Gulf, Middle East and Europe.

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, offers an outstanding First and Business Class product, excellent services and a modern fleet; positioning itself as a boutique airline in the premium segment.

“We are very excited about commencing operations in Maldives. It will open up new opportunities for people travelling between Muscat and Maldives, and will soon prove to be a winner for both business and leisure customers,” said Mr. Peter Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Air.

Oman Air, the flagship company of the Sultanate of Oman’s Civil Aviation sector, commenced operations in 1993. Starting off as a regional player, Oman Air, as Oman’s national carrier has witnessed rapid growth since then.

“Oman Air’s entry into Maldives comes at an opportune time, As a full-fledged commercial airline, Oman Air has always maintained high performance standards, and will continue to do so. Our flights to Maldives also offers passengers the most modern and fuel-efficient aircrafts with aesthetically designed interiors,” said Mr. Gihan Karunaratne, Country Manager – Sri Lanka & Maldives, Oman Air.

Oman Air currently operates direct international flights from its hub in Oman, Muscat to Gulf destinations such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait and Riyadh. In the subcontinent to: Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kozhikode, Jaipur, Chittagong and Karachi; flights to the UK and Europe include London, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris, Far East includes Bangkok and in the Middle East to Cairo, Beirut and Amman. Oman Air also operates domestic flights from Muscat to Salalah and Khasab.

Ultra-modern in-flight service equipment is deployed onboard to improve safety and overall performance. Investment in new technology, planning and product innovation has propelled Oman Air to the forefront of the aviation industry.

Oman Air stands tall with a list of achievements to its credit. It is the first airline in the Gulf to introduce the brand new Boeing NG 737 aircraft series. Oman Air’s safety record is a matter of pride and also boasts excellent on-time performance – OTP exceeding 95%.

Oman Air strives hard to enhance products in terms of convenience, efficiency and service so that flying is consistently an enjoyable experience. Achieving and maintaining internationally recognized standards of quality and safety is a continuous and uncompromising process in every department of Oman Air.

Sri Lankan Holidays has introduced special honeymoon package to Maldives. According to Sri Lankan Holidays, the package starts from Rs 39,999 and includes return air fares via Sri Lankan Airways, deluxe accommodation of 3 & 5 Star Category, breakfast, return airport transfers and a complimentary bottle of wine for honeymooners.

Firag, Chairman of Inner Maldives, Local Agents for Sri Lankan Holidays speaking to Miadhu Daily informed that that his working was working to introduce special rates for people visiting Sri Lanka for various reasons.

Firag revealed that the company already offers a 3 day special package, inclusive of return airfare and accommodation for rates between US $ 280 to US $ 319 and that the package is becoming increasingly popular.

Firag revealed that in US $ 319 package, the purchaser is only spending US $ 13 for 3 days accommodation and breakfast while for those purchasing US $ 280 package only an amount of US $ 26 will be spend on 3 days accommodation and breakfast .

Firag also revealed that although the night flights on Sri Lankan Airlines were interrupted due to global rise in fuel prices, the flights have now been resumed. Return Airfare to Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan is usually US $ 306, however the night flights are US $ 66 cheaper and is at present US $240.

DOHA – The Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) is hoping to attract more visitors from Qatar and other GCC states. At present, GCC nationals to the picturesque islands account for a negligible portion of the country’s tourist inflow.

A presentation was held yesterday at the Movenpick Tower and Suites for city-based travel agents and tour operators to highlight the Maldives as a tourist destination. Among the advantages pointed out were that the islands are a mere four hours away from the region, the population has a high percentage of Muslims and there are no visa restrictions.

According to the Maldives’ Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Dr Mahmood Shougee: “Over the past 30 years, tourism has played a vital role in the sustained development of the Maldives economy. Today, we enjoy high hotel occupancy levels and this is set to continue. The low season of June, July and August is relatively short and this coincides with the high season for outbound travel from the GCC.”

He added; “Our short-term strategy is to continue to encourage new business from the Gulf region by placing greater emphasis on the development of strong relationships with the region’s travel trade. We need to give them the tools to effectively sell the destination.”

Incidentally, Qatar Airways offers five flights a week out of Doha to the Maldives capital Male using Airbus A320 aircraft. However, right now the islands attract more resident expatriates living in the Gulf than GCC nationals.

MTPB deputy director responsible for the Middle East, Mohamed Adam, stated: “Our focus now is to ensure that the travel trade in the GCC understands the Maldives product and how to sell it effectively to both expatriates and GCC nationals resident in the Gulf region.”

Source: The Peninsula

Once again the exotic and magnificent Maldives island’s will host one of the worlds best and most anticipated surf events – the ASP 5 Star Prime rated Maldives presents SriLankan Airlines Pro, running from June 3 through to June 9.

Renowned world wide and attracting the very best surfers from right across the globe, The Sri Lankan Airlines Pro delivers the true essence of the sport to the world with perfect surf, amazing weather and possibly the warmest surfing waters in the world – All this on a paradise island setting where the problems of the world disappear and the sport of surfing takes over!

Elite World Qualifying Series competitor Hira Terinatoofa (Tahiti) commented on the SriLankan Airlines Pro saying “Simply awesome! It’s my favorite event on the world tour. Everybody has fun enjoying fantastic surf and it’s just a wonderful experience. It’s just like my home in Tahiti – surf, sun and fun. A great event for surfing!”

The Maldives Islands is open to the entire Indian Ocean swell window and while great surf is consistent throughout the year, the monsoonal June winds have regularly delivered powerful and excellent surf to this event. Last year’s event saw Pasta Point on the Dhonveli Beach & Spa Resort Island add even more quality to the options of excellent surf available and Pasta Point will again be the events base with options to surf other quality surf breaks like Lohifushi, Cokes and Jails!

Just how important this event is to these surfers was highlighted last year when Australia’s Luke Munro won the event and then went on to qualify for the ASP Fosters World Tour. There’s a high degree of prestige attached to winning this event because the waves are so good. It’s the perfect testing ground to highlight surfings best and you’ll only win here if you’re truly a champion of the sport.

This years event sees multiple partners joining forces to ensure the best possible promotion which will include a fully serviced (vision, audio and live scores) live webcast along with an international television production crew who will produce a feature show for the world along with daily news feeds to the world and web highlight packages.

ASP Australasia Tour Manager Glenn Best commented on the event saying “The 2007 SriLankan Airlines Pro event is going to be a fantastic event thanks to the support of our key sponsors in SriLankan Airlines, Maldives Tourism & Promotions Board and John Keels Resorts who have all solidified their commitment in 2007. The Maldives is without question one of the most superb surfing event locations, and each year it continually gives up some of the best WQS waves on the globe, we are so fortunate to be holding the event in such a fantastic surfing location – With the event’s 5 Star Prime Rating bringing the best ASP ranked surfers into the Maldives it creates an explosive surfing event, and it’s all set in an idyllic tropical location. The 2007 SriLankan Airlines Pro event will have daily live vision web cast from the event site at ‘Pasta Point’ on the luxurious Dhonveli Beach & Spa Resort, – put simply, very few other WQS events offer such outstanding surf conditions and all set in 5 Star surroundings”

Just some of the quality surfers already on the entry list include Roy Powers (Hawaii), Leonardo Neves (Brazil), Kai Otton (Australia), David Weare (South Africa), Tim Boal (France), Enecko Acero (Spain), Tiago Pires (Portugal), Abdul El Harem (Morocco), Teppi Tajima (Japan), Brian Toth (Puerto Rico), Alex Grey (USA) and many more for what is possibly the worlds biggest elite representation at an ASP Professional event.

The SriLankan Airlines Pro, sitting right in the middle of the grueling ASP World Qualifying Series Season and almost right in the middle of surfing’s global community which will ensure a super quality event in an amazing location.

The countdown to early June is now on as everyone eagerly plans their pathway on SriLankan Airlines to the magnificent Maldives.

The 2007 Maldives presents the SriLankan Airlines Pro event is proudly supported by SriLankan Airlines, Maldives Tourism & Promotions Board, John Keels Resorts and Atoll Travel.

Watch all the event action live from the beautiful Maldives from 3 – 9 June on www.surfingaustralia.com

Steve Robertson
ASP Australasia, Surfing Australia Media Manager
ASP Int. Digital Photographer

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited, an airline based in Shanghai, will operate Shanghai-Maldives-Johannesburg flights starting from April 27, as it further expands its international network. The carrier will operate four flights per week on the route using Airbus A340-300 aircraft.

China Eastern is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes. Its main bases are Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

This airline will open up the door for Chinese and eastern tourists to travel easily to Maldives and as well as traffic from South Africa.

Chinese outbound travel is based on a system called Approved Destination Status (ADS). According to this system, Chinese nationals can travel to ADS countries only. The Maldives became an ADS country at the end of 2002.

There has been a tremendous growth in the Chinese market for the past four years to Maldives, partly, due to the Approved Destination Status (ADS) and also the new found freedom for Chinese citizens to travel. After the Maldives became an ADS country, the arrivals from China increased tremendously.

However, in 2004 arrivals dropped tremendously compared to the projections for 2005. But in 2006 there was an unprecedented growth of 127 percent in comparison to 2005. Chinese tourists now account for 4.4 percent of total tourist arrivals to Maldives.

China Eastern’s local operation agent in the Maldives is Inner Maldives Holidays, one of the premier brands in the travel and tourism industry in Maldives.

For more information please contact:
Abdulla Ghiyas, Deputy Managing Director or
Ali Nifaz, Operations Manager
Inner Maldives Holidays
Tel: (960) 3326309.
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