Air Astana launches direct flights to the Maldives

Monday 23rd November 2020

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Air Astana, the award-winning national airline of Kazakhstan, is showing operational resilience during the months of December and January 2021 with the launch of special scheduled flights to the Maldives, for the first time.   Flights will operate from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s second city, twice weekly from 5 December, on Wednesdays and Saturdays and additionally on Mondays from December 21, 2020.

 

Services will be operated by Air Astana’s newest fleet type, the state-of-the-art Airbus A321LR aircraft, configured for 16 Business Class seats and 150 in Economy.  Its lie-flat business class seats are equipped with 16-inch individual entertainment screens, with four of the 16 seats offering additional personal space. In economy class, the Recaro seats provide increased comfort for long flights and are equipped with individual 10-inch screens.

 

With upped demand during the festive season from 16 December to 16 January, 2021, Air Astana will schedule its wide-bodied Boeing 767 aircraft to the country’s Male Airport, providing additional seat capacity.

 

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, flights will depart Almaty at 01.20 local time and arrive in Male at 07.05 local time. On Mondays, flights will depart Almaty at 01.30 local time and arrive in Male at 07.15 local time.  Return service from Male will depart at 19.35 and arriving in Almaty next day at 03.10 local time.

 

Fares start from US$677 in economy class and from US$2,067 in business class, including all taxes and surcharges. The prices are subject to variations in exchange rates on the day of ticket issue.

 

After a successful online application, entrance Visas will be issued free of charge upon arrival at the airport, valid for 30 days from date of receipt.

 

The entry requirements to the Republic of Maldives include mandatory negative PCR Test results certificates in English.  All certificates are valid for 96 hours from test commencement through to the scheduled flight arrival time.

 

Infants under the age of 12 months are exempt from testing.

 

Passengers are also required to fill in a compulsory  medical health declaration , 24 hours before arrival to the destination. In the declaration form, passengers will need to upload a photo of themselves (up to 2 megabytes), as well as obtain a negative PCR test.  Failure to do so will result in denied boarding.

 

Passengers arriving to Kazakhstan from foreign countries are required to present a negative PCR test certificate (no more than three days from the day the result is issued through to crossing the border of the Republic of Kazakhstan.  The list of PCR Laboratories in the Republic of Maldives is available  here .

 

Left: The splendour of The Maldives by Dhoni; Right: Sunset at Fili, The Maldives (photo credit both, Visit Maldives)

About Air Astana

 

Air Astana, the national carrier of Kazakhstan, operates domestic and international flights from hubs in Nur-Sultan and Almaty. The company was incorporated in late 2001 and commenced operations on 15th May 2002. The Air Astana fleet consists of Boeing 767/757, Airbus A320 Family aircraft including A320neo, A321neo and A321LR and Embraer E190 / E190-E2.

 

Air Astana became the first carrier from Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe to be awarded the prestigious 4-Star rating by Skytrax at the World Airline Awards in 2012 and was also named ‘The Best Airline in Central Asia and India’ that year. Both achievements were repeated every year through until 2019. Air Astana has also received TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards in the “Regional Carrier in Asia” and “Passenger Comfort” categories for the past three years and a 5-Star in the “Major Regional Airlines” category from APEX in 2019.