Italy’s national airline ITA Airways begins operations to Maldives

Italy’s national airline, ITA Airways, has begun operations to the Maldives.

The inaugural flight of the airline landed at Velana International Airport (VIA) at 11:21am on Sunday morning, which was welcomed by a water salute.

A total of 300 tourists traveled to the Maldives on Sunday’s flight. ITA Airways commenced operations to the Maldives in conjunction with the winter season. The operations will continue through next year’s April.

Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) said that ITA would conduct two flights from Italy’s Rome to VIA per week.

ITA Airways annually operates flights to the Maldives during the winter season. Alitalia, which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy, also operated flights to the Maldives annually for the winter season until the airline shut down after profound financial problems in 2021. State-backed ITA took over Alitalia’s operations on October 15, 2021.

Italy is traditionally one of the most popular tourist markets to the Maldives. As of this year’s November, Maldives has welcomed over 89,000 Italian tourists.