An article to help you buy cheaper tickets. Learn about getting to the Maldives, everything about the optimal flight to Maldives, the route, and how long it takes to fly. I will tell you what to look for when searching for tickets and what to pay attention to. Perhaps the advice in this article will help you save time, nerves, and even money.
It will be difficult for you to plan your dream trip to Maldives without these websites
Table of Contents
Getting to the Maldives: general information
Let’s start with general information so that you have a correct picture. After all, the cheapest flight is not necessarily a direct one. Sometimes there are convenient connecting flights that are cheaper and allow you to see a new city. And there are many ways to get to the Maldives today, despite the situation that is happening in the world.
- The capital of the Maldives is the city of Male.
- All tourists arrive at the main airport of the country, Velana, which is located on a neighboring island with Male. And then, some sail to their hotel by ferry or speedboat, while others take a seaplane or a regular domestic flight.
Good to know:
There are 17 airports in the Maldives, but only Male airport accepts international flights and large aircrafts. Learn all about this aviation hub, where to find the ferry pier, baggage storage, and telecom stores. There you will also find out why international flights do not fly to other airports.
The Maldives is in Asia, and the country is located on the equator in the Indian Ocean. If you know the location of the country on the world map, it will greatly help you understand the distances and the main transportation hubs through which it is convenient to fly here. Learn more about the Maldives on the world map.
Flight to Maldives: How to Find Cheap Tickets
Below are the main things to pay attention to when searching. They will help you find not only cheap tickets but also comfortable flights. These rules apply to any travel to any country, not just the Maldives.
- Always buy tickets in advance, and the earlier, the better. Yes, it is not always possible, but most of you can do it 2-3 months before departure.
Good to know:
Airlines do not have the concept of “last-minute deals” like in package tours. There are no cheap tickets 2-3 days before departure. On the contrary, the closer the departure, the higher the price. Airlines in this case follow the following logic: if you need to fly tomorrow, you will fly for any money. Therefore, lowering prices for tickets for the next few days does not increase sales, and there is no point in selling tickets cheaply.
- If you are looking for tickets with connections, it is desirable to buy those tickets where all flight segments are performed by one airline.
In case everything goes according to schedule without force majeure, you will not have any problems. This is important for cases when one of the segments is delayed/rescheduled, etc. If all segments are performed by one airline, you are its internal passenger, and they know about other changed flights, and all issues will be resolved by the airline.
And if different, then one airline is not responsible for the delay of the other, and it will be much more difficult to obtain any compensation. You will simply be late for the next flight and pay a lot of money.
- Never buy tickets with more than one layover. It’s a transportation nightmare.
- The wider your possible vacation date range, the more chances you have to buy cheap tickets. Ideally, you should be able to fly for vacation within 2-3 months. Let’s say from October to December.
- Sometimes people write to me asking for help in finding tickets, and when I ask them in which months they want to fly to the Maldives, they answer only December 12th there and December 24th back, not a day earlier or later. I cannot help such people, and no one can. If there are no flights on that day, or all tickets are sold out, then even God cannot help them.
I recommend reading a general information article before purchasing tickets: “Vacation in Maldives – Is it Worth Going?” It will answer many questions.
How long does it take to fly to the Maldives?
This is a very common question from tourists who are planning a trip to the Maldives. It’s quite simple – direct flights from European cities take about 10 hours. This is fast and convenient. You can depart in the morning and have dinner at your villa in the Maldives.
Direct flight times to the Maldives:
- Berlin – Male: 11 hours
- Warsaw – Male: 10 hours
- Budapest – Male: 11 hours
- London – Male: 12 hours
Good to know:
Tourists often purchase flights to the Maldives with one layover. This takes longer, but is often cheaper and there are many options available that suit your travel dates. If you find a flight to Maldives with a short layover of up to 2 hours, your entire journey will take about 12 hours.
You can find a specific article about tickets from European cities to the Maldives via the link: prices, where to buy, and how to buy.
How to get to the Maldives: the optimal route with a layover
If for some reason a direct flight to Male from your city does not work for you, below I will explain how to search for tickets with a layover.
Good to know:
The most convenient and affordable tickets can be purchased through airports from which direct flights to Male often depart. There are about 5 major transportation hubs where planes frequently depart and it’s easy to get to from your city, as well as easy to fly from there to the Maldives.
Here are the cities (airports) where you should build an optimal route:
- Istanbul – Turkish Airlines fly daily to Male
- Doha (Qatar) – Qatar Airways has daily flights to Male
- Abu Dhabi, Dubai (UAE) – Here, you can find very cheap tickets. WizzAir, a European low-cost carrier, flies from Abu Dhabi to Male, and FlyDubai, a low-cost carrier, flies from Dubai to Male. There are even tickets for as low as $100 for this flight segment.
- Bahrain – Gulf Air operates a direct flight to Male
- Sri Lanka – direct flights from Colombo airport
- And for those who are spending the winter in Asia, an excellent stopover option to the Maldives is through Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). AirAsia, an Asian low-cost carrier, has direct flights to the Maldives. Prices are often as low as $100.
In summary, how to get to the Maldives conveniently? It’s to buy tickets with one layover in the cities listed above. From these airports, there are frequent flights to Male, making it easy to find something that suits your needs.
You can open a world map and see which route is optimal for you. For example:
- For residents of Europe, the transport hubs of Istanbul and Doha are very convenient. The optimal route from Paris would be: Paris – Istanbul – Male
- If you are a resident of Kazakhstan, it’s convenient to fly via Sri Lanka.
Of course, you can also buy tickets through other airports, but then the flight time will increase, as the route will already be a circuit.
Good to know:
You can also buy tickets with a long layover (up to 24 hours) in any of these cities and explore a new country and city. All the cities on the list above are very cool and worth your attention.
Where to find tickets to the Maldives
This is a short block, as there is not much to say. You can search and purchase tickets wherever you want:
- On the website of your favorite airline, if it flies to Male.
- In any ticket sales office.
- Some travel agencies in your area even sell air tickets.
- Or online on the websites of large aggregators. The advantage of such sites is that they search for tickets across all airlines, giving you hundreds of options, and then redirect you to the airline’s website where you can buy the ticket either from a major operator or the airline itself.
- There are several such aggregators in the world, and one of the largest examples is Aviasales. This service compares prices on other sites and from the airlines themselves and offers you the cheapest options so that you can decide for yourself where it is more convenient for you to buy tickets.
Tip:
Look everywhere – buy where it’s cheaper.
Also, don’t forget that there are charter flights to the Maldives, which are usually only accessible by buying a package tour. Tickets for such flights rarely go on sale, and they are not even listed in schedules. The linked article provides a lot of information on package tours to the Maldives, what to pay attention to, prices, where to buy, and charters.
In conclusion, I hope you have learned how to fly to the Maldives today. Let’s consider the pandemic conquered, and air travel is being restored. Yes, tickets are still expensive, and flights to the Maldives are no exception. But we hope that prices will become more affordable. And the answer to how long it takes to fly to the Maldives is simple: about 10 hours on a direct flight from almost any city in central Europe.
Wishing you fast, cheap, and comfortable flights to Male!
If you enjoyed the article and the content in this guide, you can buy me a coffee ^_^
Resources to help you plan your dream trip to the Maldives
- Flight tickets and the best deals
- Tour packages (from budget to luxury): Expedia
- Hotels and guesthouses on any island:
- 12go is the largest Asian transfer service. It gathers all Maldivian carriers, even the small ones that operate between local islands.
- Tours and excursions: Viator – a limited selection of excursions, but convenient and reliable.
- Comprehensive insurance: EKTA
- eSIM at the same price as in telecom office in Male.