Male’, Maldives – Velana International Airport (VIA) saw a decrease of 49% in Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) from this year January till June compared to the same period in 2019.
The latest statistics released by VIA revealed a decrease of 23% in International ATMs with the figures of 2019 at while this in this year only 10,798 movements, during that period.
At the same time period, the country has seen a decrease of 49% in the domestic ATMs, due to the Covid-19 preventive measures placed to restrict travelling from one island to another within the country, emergency purposes are exceptional.
On the other hand, a total decrease of 45% was seen in passenger traffic in and out of Maldives from January to June this year compared to 2019, while the airport witnessed a decrease of 63% in passenger traffic within the country.
Despite the decreases in ATMs and passenger traffic, VIA stated that flights have been operating to four more destinations than they had in 2019, with an increase of 32% in countries. In addition to this, the airlines operation to Maldives has also increased within the given time period by 6% compared to the year 2019, with a total of 36 airlines currently operating in VIA.
VIA described the aforementioned statistics as a “road to recovery from this pandemic” and stated that it is looking good, expressing high hopes for the second half of this year.
