Mega Maldives Airlines Eyes Partnership With Indian Carriers

NEW DELHI: Mega Maldives Airlines, which will start direct flights from the national capital to Male this month, is in discussions with some Indian carriers for possible partnership.

Seeing India as one of the largest growing markets, the private airline also has plans to ramp up its presence here with direct flights from Mumbai and services from the national capital to Dhaka, Bangladesh.

"There is more than one good candidate for us to partner with. We are going to look at that further in the coming months," Mega Maldives Airlines' Founder and CEO George Weinmann told PTI.

Noting that it would be too early to divulge further details, he said various frameworks, including codeshare, would be looked at.

"It is little bit early to say what framework it will be. The easiest framework will be, what we call, SPA (Special Prorate Agreement). Basically, it means we agree to give a bundled price to other airlines. They will offer a fare and we will offer a fare so that the customer sees one price and we share the price between the two airline," he said.

The airline would operate three direct flights every week from the national capital starting November 15.

According to Weinmann, the services from Mumbai to Male and from Delhi to Dhaka are expected to start next month.

Bullish on prospects in the Indian market, the airline would, in due course, look at building network connectivities from other countries coming through India to Maldives.

During January-August this year, there has been 21.4 per cent increase in Indian tourists to Maldives.

The carrier flies to China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

About the new civil aviation policy, Weinmann said the winds of change are here, which would inspire people to come up with new ideas and ways of serving the market.

"I think for an airline in the SAARC region, one of the big things that the policy allows us to go anywhere within SAARC. I think that is a big thing for us. We can connect passengers from other parts of the region through India to Maldives and that's good for India and for us," he added.

Under the policy, the government would enter into an 'open sky' air service agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC countries as well as with nations with territory located entirely beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.

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