After 3 years of absence following the COVID-19 pandemic flights from China resumed last week on 18th January.
The Chinese government finally eased travel restrictions imposed on the country which allowed for the resumption of flights between China and the Maldives.
In just over 4 days 2,354 tourists from China arrived in the Maldives and the Chinese travellers have already jumped into the list of top 10 tourist markets for Maldives in 2023.
The Government of Maldives expects a 10% overall increase in annual tourist arrival following the reopening with an annual target of 1.8 million tourist arrivals.
In 2019, 284,029 tourists arrived from China which is 16.7% of the total tourist arrivals for the year. At present for 2023 Russia is the number one tourist marker for the Maldives.
Beijing Capital Airlines operated the first flight on 18th January while China Eastern Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines are preparing to resume flights to the Maldives.
New upcoming luxury leisure carrier Beond has also shown interest in operating flights to China as the carrier plans to commence operations in mid-2023.