GoAir pulls out of Maldives completely

GoAir began its international journey in October 2018, 13 years after starting operations. Since GoAir didn’t take any new aircraft deliveries for a long time, international flights were put on the backburner. Even now, GoAir is the “also ran” in the Indian aviation market.

Around 20% of GoAir’s fleet is grounded at the moment and several newly built A320neos are put into long term storage at Airbus. Unlike other carriers, GoAir has no network expansion plan except their bloated expansion plan to connect Phuket to 10 destinations by 2019 end.

GoAir Maldives

GoAir A320

GoAir’s first international destination was Phuket and the second one was Male. They launched flights from Delhi and Mumbai to both Phuket and Male in October 2018.

GoAir started with 2x weekly flights on Delhi – Male and 3x weekly flights on Mumbai – Male. Once GoAir made the announcement, IndiGo was quick to follow-up by adding flights to both Phuket and Male also by adding flights from November/December 2018.

Later on from December 2018, GoAir expanded to 2x weekly flights on Bengaluru – Male, 3x weekly flights on Delhi – Male and 4x weekly flights on Mumbai – Male.

While the inaugural fares for GoAir flights were INR 15K for Bengaluru-Male roundtrip, INR 19K for Delhi-Male roundtrip and INR 18K for Mumbai-Male roundtrip, due to competition, the fares went well below inaugural levels, something which is not often seen.

You could book an INR 10.6K Bengaluru-Male roundtrip ticket or INR 15K roundtrip from Mumbai on GoAir. It looks like flights to the Maldives are no longer sustainable at these fare levels. GoAir has stopped accepting bookings for all flights to the Maldives from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru from July 2019. The last flight to the Maldives will be on June 30, 2019.

GoAir Maldives

No bookings for Bengaluru-Male flights from June 30, 2019

GoAir Male Flights

No bookings for Delhi-Male flights from June 30, 2019

GoAir Maldives

No bookings for Mumbai-Male flights from June 30, 2019

Don’t know if it is a permanent change or will flight be available in the winter season. But for now, bookings are closed until the end of March 2020.

From July 2019, GoAir’s will only have a handful of international flights to Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Phuket.

Did you travel to the Maldives on GoAir? How was that experience for you?

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