Villa Air,
also known as Flyme, a privately owned Maldivian airline founded in 2011
celebrated their 11-year anniversary on the 1st of October 2022.
Villa Air was
founded 11 years ago with a vision to provide an affordable and convenient mode
of transportation within the Maldives. Since the introduction of the tourism
industry in the country, one of the biggest challenges faced within
the industry was the unfamiliarity of tourists with boat transfers.
As many
guests felt motion sickness or sea sickness during their transfer, a solution
needed to be provided in order to broaden the industry within the Maldives.
With these
issues in mind, Villa air was founded, not only to cater to tourists who were
desperately looking for air travel but also for locals who needed an affordable
mode of travel to bridge the gap between the local islands of the Maldives.
Villa Air set standards when they started their operations as it was the first
privately-owned airline and airport to be welcomed in the Maldives. And so, the
airline's operations started at Maamigili, South Ari Atoll, which is still known to be the
home of fly me 11 years later.
The
introduction of this airline was not only beneficial for travelers, but it was
also beneficial for the Maldivian economy as it created a large number of jobs
for people in that region. In addition to this, the airline, without a doubt,
contributed to the development of tourism in the Maldives.
In a ceremony
hosted at Crossroads Maldives to celebrate the golden jubilee year of the tourism
industry in the Maldives, Villa Air was awarded for the contribution that they put
into the development of the industry.
While the
airline is still working with the same goals that they set in 2011 in order to
provide accessible and affordable transportation for locals and tourists alike,
the privately-owned airline is no longer able to fly to the nine destinations
that they started with due to multiple challenges that the airline faces.
Regardless of
these challenges, the airline appears to be broadening its horizon by
facilitating more services and easing access to the airline with the recent
signing of an agreement with Aasandha in order to facilitate domestic air
transportation for patients who need to be transported to another island for
medical reasons.