Melbourne welcomes Male service

Maldivian’s inaugural flight from Male touched down at Melbourne Airport Monday (18 May), giving Australians seamless access to the island paradise for the first time. Maldivian becomes the 43rd international carrier operating out of Melbourne Airport and the first airline to provide a non-stop connection between Australia and Indian Ocean archipelago. The weekly seasonal service, operated using Maldivian’s Airbus A330-200, is available exclusively to passengers booking a Luxury Escapes package, with return flights sold as part of bundled accommodation deals rather than as standalone airfares. The service departs Melbourne Airport at 11:20pm and arrives in Male at 5:55am, giving passengers seamless onward seaplane or speedboat transfers to outer-island resorts. Melbourne Airport Chief Executive Officer Lorie Argus said the flights would be an attractive option for travellers. “By eliminating the need to transit through a hub in Asia or the Middle East this service will cut up to 9-10 hours of travel time out of the journey to the Maldives which is really exciting for Victorian travellers,” she said. “For the first time ever in Australia you’ll be able to jump on a flight in the evening and wake up in the Maldives the next morning. Travel to South Asia is growing with capacity out of Melbourne up 53 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, so I’m sure this service will be in demand.” Luxury Escapes CEO and Co-Founder Adam Schwab said the launch is a defining moment for Australian travel, eliminating the long-standing gap in direct access to one of the world’s most sought-after destinations. “The Maldives has long been a bucket-list destination for Australian travellers, but the time and complexity of travelling via a transit in Singapore or the Middle East had been a major deterrent,” he said. “With great support from Melbourne Airport and in partnership with the national carrier of the Maldives, we’ve been able to unlock a direct route and package it with exceptional value across a range of resorts, from ultra-luxury romantic escapes to family-friendly options. All of this combined will position the Maldives as the new Mediterranean for Aussie travellers.” Maldivian Captain Mohamed Sunoosy said the first flight was a huge milestone for the airline and the Maldives. “Today, we did not just launch a route. We wrote the first line of a new chapter in aviation history between the Maldives and Australia, and with it, opened a new gateway for the world to discover the Maldives,” he said. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]