Duck1981

Great TR!

And especially congratulations! Hope the honey moon baby is by now on the way

wakesetter93

Thanks Duck1981! We’re having a great time (currently in Abu Dhabi at the Etihad Lounge). Only baby coming anytime soon is gonna be a food baby from all of the eating/drinking we’ve been doing.

wakesetter93

We left the lounge 10 minutes before boarding and started the long walk to our departure gate which was on the opposite side of Hamad airport. Taking the elevator down from the lounge to the departures level, we walked past the famous ‘Lamp Bear’ before wading through the maze of Duty free shops to arrive at our departure gate D24. At the end of the hallway all stairs led down which could only mean one thing, a bus gate. Boarding was already well underway when we arrived but, since they were loading our plane back to front, we waited a few moments in the gate area before boarding our bus.

Hi big creepy/cute bear



Sweet old Porsche at the TAG shop

They sell Maybach’s at Duty Free?




While in the gate area I noticed a couple that was seated behind us on our IAH-DOH flight who were also traveling to the Maldives. When they went to board they were denied as apparently they were boarding the wrong Male flight as QR offers 3 flights on the DOH-MLE route all within an hour of each other. They sprinted off to the correct gate and I was hoping that they would make it in time. (Spoiler Alert: I saw them in the immigration line in Male so they did, in fact, make it.)

Qatar Airways
QR 670
IAH-DOH (Doha Hamad International - Male Velana International)
Seat: 2D (Business)
A320-200 (A7-AHU)
Scheduled: 1:30a-8:25a
Actual: 1:32a-8:09a

Once boarding the bus I noticed it wasn’t as nice as the ‘Business Class’ branded buses that met our arriving A350 but, we did have a dedicated bus nonetheless. After touring half of Hamad International Airport, we arrived planeside at our A320 that would shuttle us down to Male.

Qatar Business Class bus


Our home for the next 4 hours


We settled into our assigned 2D and 2F while we waited on the final bus of stragglers to come over from the terminal. While on the ground, open bar PDB’s were offered and Mrs. WS93 and I both had a glass of champagne. The whole cabin seemed to be in a celebratory mood as just our PDB’s ran the plane out of the catered champagne after one round of drinks. They did offer a Cava alternative, but we passed on the second glass. The menu for the short, 4-hour hop is below and most of it was the same as our flight from Houston. The only noticeable difference was the food on offer.



Open Bar PDB









We had a quick taxi out to the runway and once airborne the FAs sprung into action. First was a bowl of warm, mixed nuts accompanied by a glass of the rose. I ordered the tasting menu as my main which was served all on one tray. I really appreciated the single tray service as I was able to try a few things I wouldn’t have otherwise selected as well as allow more time for rest on this short flight.



After dinner(?) I put my seat in bed mode and dozed off for an hour or so and woke up to a sunrise over the Indian Ocean roughly an hour and a half outside of Male. Our FA noticed I was awake and proactively offered a drink and asked if I was ready to start breakfast. I had a mimosa (the OJ making the Cava palatable) and a cup of coffee to begin with. Next I had the Corn Flakes which was served with a croissant and a yogurt parfait. Still full from all of the eating over the past 30+ hours, I had a fruit plate for my main breakfast and spent the remainder of the time looking out the window as we approached Male.


Sunrise over the Indian Ocean



Air show en route to MLE



Views approaching MLE


Once on the ground we taxied over to our arrival stand and parked next to two ex-Cathay Pacific 77W’s that had been repainted into QR colors. We had a shared bus to arrivals that they packed to the gills before heading off towards the immigration hall. It did provide a great opportunity to do some plane spotting though.

Not sure why the liveries on these two are different





EY 789 that would be taking us to Abu Dhabi in a few days



Immigration was a madhouse and the heat and humidity caused one of the people behind us to pass out. He was taken away by medical staff and thankfully there was a dedicated lane for first/business class passengers.



One of the entry requirements for the Maldives is a health declaration form which gives you a QR code that will be scanned by the immigration officers. While we had those at the ready, no one ever asked to see those, and we were stamped into the country without so much as a second glance. The bags from our flight were already on the belt once we cleared passport control and we walked outside to our waiting representatives from the Westin.

whitewave

Y’all are adorable

wakesetter93

We met our concierge, Koo, and her partner who took our bags and walked us over to the chaos that was the Trans Maldivian Airways check-in counter. We waited to the side while they took our bags to be weighed and tagged and returned with our baggage receipts which also doubled as our boarding passes. From there, we went outside to our waiting van for the ride over to the seaplane terminal.




Most of the major resorts have a lounge for customers waiting for their seaplane transfers. There is also an open-air waiting area/lounge for pax who are not staying at one of the resorts with lounges. Our lounge was located on the second floor on the end of the building and provided some great views out over the seaplane terminal and the ramp at the main airport. The lounge had multiple, distinct, seating areas and we settled on the couch in the far corner of the lounge. There was also a kids play area, and a small buffet with pastries and flavored water available.










Koo took our Passports and finalized the check-in process for us so we wouldn’t have to do anything at the hotel. She also asked if we wanted anything to drink and we both ordered a couple of coffees. It’s worth noting that, outside of the resorts, the Maldives is a dry country, so no alcohol was on offer. To accompany our coffee, I grabbed a croissant from the buffet.



Koo informed us that the estimated departure time for our transfer was 11:30am and she would update is if there were any changes. Mrs. WS93 took a nap, and I spent some time plane spotting. I managed to catch an Emirates 50th Anniversary 77W and a Saudia ‘Imagine Riyadh’ 787 as well as the constant operations of the seaplanes.

EK 77W 50th Landing

EK 77W 50th Taxiing MLE

SV 787 ‘Imagine Riyadh’ Taxiing MLE

TMA Seaplane Operations

At 11:15am we were informed that our flight was preparing to board, and we were led downstairs to board our transfer. During our roughly 2 hour stay in the lounge, we were the only pax. While I wouldn’t have wanted to spend much longer in the lounge, it was a nice space with an extremely friendly staff and, it certainly beat spending time outside in the 90-degree heat.

RetiredATLATC

Relic indeed, but good location by the QR used gate. The wife and I spent, what felt like, an eternity in there when our QR flight went mechanical on our second trip to MLE in 2019. Ended up in some crappy overnight hotel and was told to hang there until contacted by QR the next day.

Went back to the airport very early the next morning when everyone else from our flight was sitting around the lobby, and got switched to BA J, with an $400 pp upgrade to F.

Added an extra stop at LHR, but the QR flight remained broken until the next nights QR flight arrived.

Surprised you didn't splurge for the Al Safwa Lounge in DOH, though the Al Mourjan is super.

Great TR, enjoy the honeymoon!

whitewave

food babies are the best babies lol

just kidding, but that was funny

ryanbriar

Sounds like AA!

This trip report is awesome! I’m headed to MLE later this week: JFK-LHR in F on BA, then LHR-DOH-MLE (J and the latter in F on ex-Cathay) using AAdvantage miles so this is a good preview.

nequine

Could you have gotten to the resort by boat or was sea plane the only transport option available?

wakesetter93

Thanks RetiredATLATC! During Covid, my understanding was that all F and J pax were using Al Safwa, it wasn’t until landing that I found Al Mourjan to be open and since we were already there at transfer security, I didn’t bother seeking out Al Safwa to see what the upcharge would be.

Interested to hear your thoughts on QR service on the ex-CX 77W as they run that 3x daily vs the 1x A320 to MLE
Seaplane was the only option for ours given it was roughly 80 miles from Male.

Askartus

Nice trip report so far.

We came back from Santorini today and prepared everything there for your arrival ... ;-)


Blue Monkey beer on a balcony in Santorini with the sunset in the background

wakesetter93

Appreciate that Askartus! We’re off to Santorini tomorrow night, hope you left us some Blue Monkey!

Loose Cannon

Congrats on your wedding and honeymoon.

wakesetter93

Thanks Loose Cannon! Good to see you back on the TR forum.

I wanted to have the next part up this afternoon but Aegean thought it would be a good idea to staff one person at the check in desk for a full AMS-ATH flight with no priority lane, self tagging or bag drop so I may have to skip the lounge and upload later.

wakesetter93

After leaving the lounge, we were led down to a waiting room located on the seaplane dock. It was small and, while technically air-conditioned, quite warm. Our flight was running a little late and so we spent 15 minutes in the boarding area before our flight was called. Trans Maldivian Airways serves a vast majority of the resorts in the Maldives and therefore it is common to make multiple stops. Our particular aircraft was stopping at three resorts, and we were fortunate that we were the first stop.

TMA Waiting Room

After our flight was called, we walked out onto the dock and over to our waiting DHC-6-300 Twin Otter (Registration: 8Q-TAM). Boarding was completed by 11:45am at which point the flight attendant/deckhand performed a manual safety demonstration and passed out earplugs given the noise of the engines.





We taxied out to what seemed to be a random point in the bay and by 11:50am we were airborne and climbing out over Male. It was a perfect day to fly and we were treated to great views of some of the atolls around Male as we made our way to the northwest.







Thirty minutes after takeoff, we splashed down in front of the Westin and taxied over to the seaplane dock where we bid adieu to our crew and headed off to explore the resort.



Welcome to Paradise!