£161+ Cheap flights to Malé

City overview

The beautiful city of Male is the capital of the Maldives Islands.  It’s the ideal holiday destination with a unique character of its own that visitors find most endearing.  You will soon soak up the atmosphere in the narrow streets, bustling marketplaces and bazaars.  Check out the many different coloured skyscrapers where locals live in harmony with one another as it’s quite an amazing sight.  There are more than 100,000 people living in the Maldives on an island which is only just over 1.2 miles long and 0.7 miles wide.  There are plenty of historical sites to see such as the world famous Hukuru Miskiiy mosque that was built in 1656 while overlooking this iconic building is the current presidential residence.  If you want to cool off after your flight to Male, head for the city’s artificial beach where you can have a swim, top up your tan and recharge your batteries.  The beach and surf point Raalhugandu can be found on the south eastern side of the city.  Why not try surfing the waves? Surf boards and huts can be hired for the day so you don’t miss out on any of the action.  Shopping is also very popular here.  There’s a wide selection of shops selling everything from clothing, jewellery, footwear, electronics and books. Bartering can be great fun in the local markets where you can pick up a bargain or two.

Getting around Malé

You can actually walk around Male in about one hour.  Most of the city’s major attractions are located on the north shore of the island. If you don’t feel like walking, flag down roving taxis which charge a flat rate and tend be very cheap. Of course, you can also take a ferry ride to the nearby island of Villingili which is only around a 20-minute ride away.

Getting from the Airport to the City

Male International Airport (MLE) is located on the nearby Maldive island of Hulhule, and is where most travellers who book flights to Male will arrive. Most visitors are met at the airport by travel agent reps who arrange for guests to complete the journey by speedboat or public ferry.  It’s only around a 20-minute journey before you reach the city, so it won’t be long before you can check in to your accommodation.

Malé airport overview

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport or Male International Airport, to give it its more popular name serves as the main gateway to the beautiful, isolated islands of the Maldives. Despite the name, the airport is situated on the small man-made Hulhule Island rather than nearby capital island Male, and has regular ferries to Male. Flights to Male International Airport arrive daily from all over Europe, Moscow, Dubai, and Asian hubs such as Singapore, Bangkok, Guangzhou and Tokyo, with extra flights in season.

The city of Male is only 1.7km (1 mile) long and 1km (0.6 miles) wide, but has more than 100,000 people living on it – by some measures, one of the most densely populated places in the world. You can walk all over the city in an hour or two and most sights are a mere 15-minute walk from the airport ferry jetties.

Previously government-run, the airport was handed over to a private company at the end of 2010, and major upgrades, due to be complete by 2014, are underway. Currently operating at a capacity of 2.6 million passengers, the new terminal has been planned to handle five million passengers a year.