Air Astana will begin operations to the Maldives twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays from December 5, and additionally on Mondays from December 21, 2020.
Flights will be operated by state-of-the-art Airbus A321LR aircraft which are configured with 16 Business class seats and 150 Economy class seats. The lie-flat business class seats are equipped with 16-inch individual entertainment screens, with four of 16 seats offering additional personal space. In the economy class, the Recaro seats provide increased comfort for long flights and are equipped with individual 10-inch screens.
Due to the high demand during seasonal holidays, from Dec 16 to Jan 16, 2020, flights will be operated by the wide-bodied Boeing 767 aircraft, providing additional seat capacity.
On Wednesdays and Saturdays, flights will depart Almaty at 01.20 local time and arrive in Male at 07.05 local time, on Mondays flights will depart Almaty at 01.30 local time and arrive in Male at 07.15 local time. Return service from Male departing at 19.35 and arriving in Almaty next day at 03.10 local time.
Fares start from US$677 in economy class and from US$2067 in business class, including taxes and surcharges. The prices are subject to variations in exchange rates on the day of ticket issue.
After online application, entrance visas are issued free of charge upon arrival at the airport and are valid for 30 days from the date of its receipt.
The entry requirements to the Republic of Maldives include mandatory PCR Test certificate in English with a negative result. Certificate should be valid for 96 hours from the moment of taking the test till the scheduled flight arrival time. Infants under the age of 12 months exempt from this test.
Passengers are also required to fill in a compulsory medical health declaration, 24 hours before arrival to the destination. In the declaration form, passengers will need to upload a photo of themselves, up to 2 megabytes, as well as a PCR test with a negative result.
Passengers arriving to Kazakhstan from the foreign countries should have a negative PCR test certificate (no more than 3 days should pass from the day the result is issued till the moment of crossing the border of the Republic of Kazakhstan), otherwise they may be prevented from boarding. The list of PCR Laboratories in the Republic of Maldives is available here.