Turkish Airlines becomes the latest of the major international carriers to announce temporary discontinuation of flights to Maldives.
The airline ceased its operations to Maldives on Monday, 23 March 2020 but confirmed they are expected to resume flights on 16 April 2020.
The Turkish national airline makes daily flight trips between its capital Istanbul and Velana International Airport (VIA) of Maldives capital.
With this announcement, Turkish Airlines has entered the list of several major international airlines that have already announced their temporary cessation of flights to the island nation.
The decision of the airline comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has been rapidly spreading across the world, significantly reducing the global travel demand.
On Monday, two other major carriers; Etihad and Bangkok Airways officially announced their temporary reduction of flight movements to Maldives.
Meanwhile Italy's AlItalia, French national carrier Air France, Emirates along with Sri Lankan Airlines announced their decision to temporary stop flight operations to Maldives.
On the other hand, the island nation has imposed travel and arrival restrictions on 11 global destinations which include China, Italy, Iran, Spain, Malaysia, UK, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea, France and Germany.
The island nation is experiencing its lowest economic blow in recent history due to the viral outbreak that has significantly slowed the country's tourism sector; on which it is mainly dependent on.
Moreover, several tourist properties have already announced their decision to temporarily close down their resorts over dwindling arrival figures.
