Route Analysis: Mumbai-Malé 

Full-service carrier Vistara is set to launch a new route to the Maldives next month as Indian airlines continue to add capacity to the archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Flights from Mumbai (BOM) to Malé (MLE) will begin on March 3 operating three times per week. The airline will deploy its Airbus A320neo aircraft with three-class cabin configuration on the route, offering business, premium economy and economy seating.

Service will operate on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, departing BOM at 1.45 p.m. and arriving in MLE at 4 p.m. The return leg will leave MLE at 5 p.m., landing back in BOM at 8.15 p.m. The route is part of a travel bubble agreement between India and the Maldives.

BOM-MLE

Although an attractive leisure destination in normal times, the Maldives reopened to international tourists last July and has since adopted a more open border policy than many other vacation hotspots. Tourist are required to hold a negative PCR test for COVID-19, conducted 96 hours prior the scheduled time of departure, but do not need to quarantine upon arrival.

Vistara joins four other carriers in providing India-Maldives services. Air India flies to MLE from Bengaluru (BLR), Delhi (DEL) and Thiruvananthapuram (TRV), while Maldivian operates MLE-TRV flights. LCC IndiGo serves MLE from Ahmedabad (AMD), BLR, Cochin (COK) and DEL, and rival GoAir flies from BLR, BOM, DEL and Hyderabad (HYD). The latter service from HYD launched earlier this month.

Photo credit: Airbus - H. Gousse / master films