Stranded tourists will be evacuated on Qatar flight on Tuesday

Tourism Ministry has announced that a chartered Qatar Airways flight will arrive in Maldives on Tuesday as scheduled to evacuate stranded tourists back to their home countries.

The flight will evacuate tourists from the UK, Germany and France who remain stranded in Maldives due to suspension of scheduled commercial flight operations.

Tourism Ministry issued a statement this Monday announcing that the flight QR675 was scheduled to depart from Velana International Airport at 15:00 hours.

All passengers with confirmed tickets have been instructed to email their name, passport number, current location, contact number and transfer details to VIA to the Tourism Ministry.

Though Maldives is currently under lockdown, Maldives Police Service will permit vessels and vehicles to carry passengers with confirmed tickets from their respective locations to the airport.

However, crew of vessels or vehicles will not be allowed to disembark at the airport.

Tourism Ministry has requested all resorts, guesthouses and island councils to extend necessary assistance to the passengers in reaching the airport.

 While many major airlines have grounded their flights amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar Airways has been holding special flights to evacuate stranded travelers.

The airline said that the health and safety of its staff and passengers remained its top priority, and that it had taken proper safety measures to ascertain the health and safety of its staff and passengers.

Prior to the new coronavirus pandemic, Qatar Airways had operated 21 weekly flights to Maldives.