Luxury Escapes and Maldivian have teamed up to connect travellers Down Under to the South Asian destination.
The new non-stop service will fly from Melbourne to Male on a seasonal basis, operated by Luxury Escapes and provided by Maldivian, the national airline of the Maldives.
It marks the first time Australian travellers will have a regular scheduled commercial service to fly direct to the holiday destination.
Dubbed the ‘Maldivian Luxury Escapes Express’, the service – available exclusively to Luxury Escapes customers – will operate a weekly evening departure on Mondays, with the inaugural flight scheduled to take off 18 May 2026.
Maldivian will deploy a widebody A330-200 aircraft on the route, which will initially operate for around six months following approvals from Australian regulators.
Depending on demand, the service may be extended for a second season or even made permanent, Luxury Escapes said.
Launch package offers start from $2,599 per person for the return flight and five nights in a selection of luxury resorts with inclusions.
More details in today’s issue of Travel Daily.