FlyMe (Maldives) (Malé) is set to resume ATR72-600 operations, managing director Abdulla Nashid has confirmed.

In an emailed statement to ch-aviation, Nashid said the incoming turboprop is msn 1588 and is slated to arrive in the Indian Ocean archipelago in October. There, it will join the rest of the Maldivian carrier's fleet of one ATR42-500 (leased from Montrose Global) and two ATR72-500s (leased from Nordic Aviation Capital) used on scheduled flights connecting Malé with Dharavandhoo Island and Maamigili.

The Maldivian carrier leased two ATR72-600s - 8Q-VAS (msn 1069) and 8Q-VAT (msn 1109) - from GECAS between February 2013 and September 2015. Both were subsequently placed with FMI Air (Yangon) in 2016.

In April this year, Nashid announced plans to start seaplane operations using a fleet of four DHC-6-300 amphibians due to arrive in October this year. The project is slated to commence once a new seaplane base at Male's Velana International Airport is opened.

For its part, the Chief Marketing Officer of Manta Air (NR, Malé), Ahmed Maumoon, told the PSM state broadcaster that his airline expects to start amphibian operations in September using a fleet of four DHC-6-300s which will ultimately grow to ten by the end of the year.