Maldives national airline, Maldivian’s plan to expand its wide-body operations to more international destinations will create more job opportunities for locals, the airline operator, Island Aviation Services Ltd (IAS) Deputy Managing Director Ali Saleem has said.
Maldivian has commenced operations to China with its newest acquisition, the wide-body Airbus A330-200. On Tuesday, Maldivian held its inaugural flight to Chengdu before adding Beijing to its network late Thursday.
Speaking to PSM News’ “Raajje Miadhu” programme Ali Saleem said the wide-body operations will create many job opportunities along with enhancing the reputation of Maldives in the global aviation industry.
“We will need more pilots, more cabin crew, cargo engineers and agents. Even for this one aircraft, we have announced several job openings,” he explained.
With just one aircraft, about 70 jobs have been created and the aim is to make Maldivian an airline employing only Maldivians. Currently, 95% of the company staff are locals.
Saleem said the success of Maldivian's international flights will require the cooperation of multiple sectors including Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), embassies, travel agents and businessmen.
Speaking on the programme, Maldivian’s Director of Flight Operations, Captain Ahmed Hunain said the expansion of Maldivian's flights by adding more wide-body aircrafts will lead to opportunities for local pilots.
Hunain said a considerable number of locals are seeking jobs at the airline. However, he added that the company cannot cater to all the applicants at present.
“There are more than 100 pilots currently seeking employment. When we opened for the interview, about 100 pilots applied. But for now we have just three vacancies,” he said.
The acquisition of the new Airbus fulfils an electoral commitment by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu to introduce two wide-body aircraft for Maldivian. The government has plans to acquire an additional wide-body aircraft and initiate flights to European destinations by October this year.