Maldives Today

Tourism

Maldivian Opens Beijing Office and Hosts China Roadshow

The national airline also held a China roadshow with its sales agent there. China sent 324,039 tourists to the Maldives this year up to 21 October, more than any other country.

By Maldives Today ·
Men in suits cut a pink ribbon printed with the Maldivian logo in a white-walled office, with flower stands on either side.
Guests cut the ribbon at Maldivian’s new Beijing office, in a photograph the airline published on 26 October. (photo credit: Maldivian)

The News

Maldivian, the national airline, has opened an office in Beijing to build its presence in China, the Maldives’ largest source of tourists.

The airline announced the opening on its official X and Facebook accounts on the afternoon of Monday, 26 October. It said the office would bring it closer to partners and customers in China, and called it a step towards “connecting more travellers between China and the Maldives”.

Photographs posted with the announcement show guests cutting a ribbon printed with the airline’s logo. The airline did not give the office’s address or say how many people will work there.

On the morning of Tuesday, 27 October, Maldivian said it had also hosted the Maldivian China Roadshow with MegaCap, its general sales agent in China. The event brought together people from tourism, the travel trade and aviation to promote the Maldives and look for new business in passenger services, the airline said. Its post did not give the date or venue.

Neither announcement included a new route or extra flights.

Know More

Place cards at the head table in the airline’s photographs of the roadshow dinner carry the names of Dr Fazeel Najeeb, the Maldives’ ambassador to China; Ahmed Shafeeu, chairman of Island Aviation Services; and Ibrahim Iyas, its managing director. Island Aviation is the state-owned company that runs Maldivian.

The office follows other moves by the company in the Chinese market this year. In March it invited bids from firms to act as its general cargo sales agent in Beijing and Chengdu. It has advertised three times since July for a public relations agent in China, most recently in a notice on 17 October.

Flight-tracking records on Flightradar24 show that the airline’s Airbus A330-200, registered 8Q-IAB, made one return trip to each Chinese city in the past week. It flew from Malé to Chengdu Tianfu airport late on 20 October and came back on 22 October. That night it left for Beijing Capital airport, returning on 24 October. It then made a return trip to Melbourne.

Flightradar24 lists one A330-200 in Maldivian’s fleet. The next flights are scheduled to leave Malé for Chengdu just after midnight on 28 October and for Beijing on 29 October.

Step Back

Maldivian received its first wide-body jet, the A330-200, on 6 January 2025. Its release that day said the 264-seat aircraft would allow direct flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

At a launch event in Beijing in December 2024, Iyas also named Xi’an as a planned destination, according to an account published by Visit Maldives, the state tourism promotion agency.

In July 2025 the airline said it was flying the A330 weekly to Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, and launched a seasonal A320 service to Shenzhen via Bangkok. Its schedule for late 2025 had Shanghai flights on Mondays.

Shanghai Pudong is still listed on the airline’s destinations page. Flightradar24 shows no Maldivian flights to Shanghai in the coming week.

China has been the largest source of tourists this year. The Tourism Ministry’s weekly update of 22 October recorded 324,039 Chinese tourists up to 21 October, or 19.1% of all tourist arrivals. Russia was second, with 245,294.

Total visitor arrivals, at 1,728,760, were 3.2% below the same point last year, the update shows.

Island Aviation is also seeking new jets. Earlier this month it invited lessors to offer up to two Airbus A220-300s to succeed its A320, with proposals due on 28 October.

The Record

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