Manta air flight BLR to Dhaalu Atol- will it happen?

Maldive's Manta Air had advertised opening direct flight between Bengaluru and Dhaalu Atol. Now with latest India-Maldives row, this looks doubtful. Let us wait and watch.

Dhaalu Atol is one of the islands in middle of Maldives. So far reaching Dhaalu meant flying to Male airport and boarding another 55 min flight paying 300+ USD extra (total round trip from India could easily cost 50-60k INR.

Now a direct flight will reduce cost and time. There are few resorts around Dhaalu so guests of these resorts will have cheaper and faster access now.

I've flown to Male and had another trip to GAN island at the south of Maldives. Will look forward to plan a trip to Dhaalu Atol this year.

The original press statement from Manta Air is here- flight launch was slated for Jan 2024. But they had not mentioned from what date the flights would commence. Their website also doesn't have BLR as an airport yet. With the current India-Maldives issue I think they will delay the plan. Have to keep checking their site once a while to see if BLR is getting shown as an option to book. Let me see.

As of now Malta air website can't even be accessed in India. Not sure if it is temporary glitch or website is deliberately blocked for access from India due to recent issues. You can try your luck  https://mantaair.mv/book

Malta Air only has ATRs and no A320s. I guess it can still fly BLR to DDD without any issue in 2-3 hours, although a bit slower.