Shanghai Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, has started direct flights from Shanghai to Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.
According to a statement released by Maldives Airports Company the B767 aircraft which has capacity for 200 passengers is scheduled to fly three times weekly until the end of the winter season.
With the Chinese tourist market the fastest growing in the world, Chinese travellers now make up 30 percent of all visitors to the Maldives.
MACL reported that the Shangahi Airlines had in previous years flown to the Maldives for this period, but only on a schedule of two flights per week.
While British Airways has decided to suspend summer flights to the Maldives, German national carrier Lufthansa is to start scheduled flights to the country from December 2015.
