Air Maldives
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| Air Maldives | ||
|---|---|---|
| [[Image:| 160px |]] | ||
| IATA L6 |
ICAO AMI |
Callsign AIR MALDIVES |
| Founded | 1970 | |
| Hubs | Malé International Airport | |
| Fleet size | 5 | |
| Destinations | 10 | |
| Company slogan | Fly Air Maldives to a dream destination | |
| Headquarters | Malé, Maldives | |
| Key people | Fauzi Bin Ayob(MD) | |
Air Maldives was the first airline of the Maldives and the country's national flag carrier. It began operating in the 1970s, during Ibrahin Nasir's presidency, with the opening of a runway at Hulhulé Airport, close to the capital Malé. The first airplane flown by Air Maldives was a single Douglas DC-6, which flew the route Malé-Colombo.
During the beginning of the 1980s the airline was confined to the domestic field. It operated regular flights with a Short Skyvan between Malé and Gan, in Addu Atoll.
The Skyvan was replaced by two Dornier 228 planes in the late 1980s when two further domestic airports were opened in Hanimaadhu (Haa Dhaalu Atoll) and Kaddhu (Laamu Atoll).
During its last phase, in the 1990s, Air Maldives, boosted by a new flow of investment, went international again. Formerly this airline used to be fully owned and controlled by the Maldivian government, but now Air Maldives became a joint venture airline between the Maldivian government, which owned 51 percent, and Naluri Berhad (the majority shareholder of Malaysian Airlines), which held the remaining 49 percent.
The airline's operations were extended and two Airbuses were purchased. Air Maldives began operating regular flights to Colombo, Trivandrum and Kuala Lumpur among other destinations.
[edit] Mysterious bankruptcy
By the year 1999 Air Maldives dissolved due to bankruptcy. The circumstances of the demise of the Maldive national flag carrier were at best obscure and they were never fully publicised. Apparently, officers in high government posts are meant to be protected by this silence.
Maldivian people were disappointed and puzzled at the secrecy and the strange and sudden circumstances of the disappearance of their national airline. Explanations were asked in a quite loud and straightforward manner for a country that does not have free press. But all the blame of the bankruptcy was conveniently heaped on a shady Malaysian enterpreneur and public outcry in the Maldives soon died down.
[edit] Fleet
- 2 Dash-8
[edit] Destinations
ASIA
EUROPE
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