Beneficial Collaboration Between Sri Lankan Airlines and Manta Air!
Thursday 24th of February 2022
In order to assist the development of Southern Maldives, SriLankan Airlines and Manta Air have entered a partnership. This will allow passengers to able to get direct access to travel with Srilankan Airlines through Gan International Airport which will be connecting Manta Air's domestic flights to Koodhdhoo City.
The announcement was made at a special ceremony which was attended by Mr.Mohamed Firaq, Managing Director of Inner Maldives Holidays, Ace Travels Maldives, and Ace Aviation Services Maldives – General Sales Agent for SriLankan Airlines in the Maldives along with Mr.Jayantha Abeysinghe, Regional Manager of SriLankan Airlines for the Indian Ocean, Mr.Mohamed Khaleel, Chief Executive Officer of Manta Air, Mr.Ahmed Maumoon, Chief Marketing Officer of Manta Air and Mr.Gais Naseer, Managing Director of Addu International Airport.
“SriLankan Airlines first commenced its scheduled flights to Gan, Addu City on 1 December 2016, as the only international airline to fly to Gan International Airport with four flights per week. The flights came to a halt in March 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we resumed operations with one weekly flight between Addu City and Colombo in December 2021 – giving travelers the convenience to connect to Europe, Middle East, India, South East Asia & other key destinations with Codeshare partners via transit at Bandaranaike Airport, Colombo.” Jayantha Abeysinghe said. We also welcome discussions for any other airports expressing interest for SriLankan operations across other regions of the Maldives.” He further added.
“We thank Manta Air for accepting our proposal to enter this strategic partnership to support the development of Southern Maldives. Addu City is the population and transport hub of southern Maldives and the logical destination for any investors looking to continue the success of the guesthouse sector.” Mohamed Firaq said.
“It has been quite some time since we have been discussing on and off, on how we could address this challenge, and finally today is that historic day for Southern Maldives. We are here to support the aviation industry in proving facilities and concessions to travel to Addu City.” Gais Naseer highlighted.
“We will be commencing Manta Air’s inaugural flight to Addu City tomorrow, with daily flights and we are extremely thrilled to be working alongside the government and stakeholders to showcase the full potential of beautiful Addu,” said Mohamed Khaleel.
This collaboration between Manta Air and Sri Lankan Airlines will allow the airlines to assist inbound/outbound tourists, local travelers, and expatriates will be able to fly via GAN at reduced prices for more convenience! SriLankan Airlines will be increasing its flight frequency to GAN International Airport.
They will be flying to the airport twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The flights will fly from Colombo to Gan, and then will connect immediately to Manta Air's Gan - Koodhdhoo - Gan Flight.