China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited, an airline based in Shanghai, will operate Shanghai-Maldives-Johannesburg flights starting from April 27, as it further expands its international network. The carrier will operate four flights per week on the route using Airbus A340-300 aircraft.
| Day of ops | A/C Type | Route | STA | STD |
| Saturday | A340 | PVG-MLE-JNB | 0455LT | 0605LT |
| Sunday | A340 | JNB-MLE-PVG | 0050LT | 0200LT |
| Wednesday | A340 | PVG-MLE-JNB | 0455LT | 0605LT |
| Thursday | A340 | JNB-MLE-PVG | 0050LT | 0200LT |
China Eastern is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes. Its main bases are Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
This airline will open up the door for Chinese and eastern tourists to travel easily to Maldives and as well as traffic from South Africa.
Chinese outbound travel is based on a system called Approved Destination Status (ADS). According to this system, Chinese nationals can travel to ADS countries only. The Maldives became an ADS country at the end of 2002.
There has been a tremendous growth in the Chinese market for the past four years to Maldives, partly, due to the Approved Destination Status (ADS) and also the new found freedom for Chinese citizens to travel. After the Maldives became an ADS country, the arrivals from China increased tremendously.
However, in 2004 arrivals dropped tremendously compared to the projections for 2005. But in 2006 there was an unprecedented growth of 127 percent in comparison to 2005. Chinese tourists now account for 4.4 percent of total tourist arrivals to Maldives.
China Eastern's local operation agent in the Maldives is Inner Maldives Holidays, one of the premier brands in the travel and tourism industry in Maldives.
For more information please contact:
Abdulla Ghiyas, Deputy Managing Director or
Ali Nifaz, Operations Manager
Inner Maldives Holidays
Tel: (960) 3326309.
END
Source: MTPB
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