The only airport in the UK that offers a direct flight to the Maldives is London Heathrow Airport.
British Airways offers a direct flight to the Maldives from London Heathrow Airport all year round with an average flight time of 10 hours. If you want to fly to the Maldives without stoping this is the only option at the time of writing to fly direct.
Direct flights from London Gatwick airport take place several times a week during peak season which is November to April. Unfortunately, Heathrow is the only place in the UK where you can fly direct to the Maldives so if you did want to fly from another airport, maybe one is easier to get to you then you should know that British Airways offer cheap flights/domestic flights from other UK airports to Heathrow.
Sri Lankan airlines also offer a direct flight from London Heathrow to Male International Airport (Velana international airport) with a flight time of just over 10 hours.
Flying to the Maldives Directly
Flying to the Maldives directly can be expensive, after all the Maldives to some is a once in a lifetime holiday. Although flights to the island are increasing, the Maldives does only have one major airport which is Malé international airport. Malé international airport has three terminals and only one runway so it does limit the number of flights in and out of the country.
If flying direct from Heathrow Airport for whatever reason isn’t going to work for you then there are other options available if you are willing to catch indirect flights. You can get indirect Maldives flights from other airlines that connect to Male airport such as Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, SriLankan Airlines, air france, etihad airways and Singapore Airlines.
The airlines above fly from London Gatwick, Manchester Airport, Birmingham Airport, Edinburgh and Newcastle and if you are willing to catch an indirect flight you can stop over in Abu Dhabi, Singapore, different parts of the middle east including Doha and Dubai.
Should I catch a direct or indirect flight to the Maldives?
The average time of a direct flight to the Maldives comes in around 10 hours of flight time whereas indirect flights can take anywhere from 12 hours to 24 hours depending on the stopover time. First, you should consider the above. Travelling can be taxing on us all and a 10-hour flight is often more than most passengers can bear.
As British airways are one of the premier airlines in the UK you can also upgrade your travel experience with a business class flight which will make those 10 hours seem like no time at all. If you are getting an indirect flight you could end up with one of the cheaper airlines where comfort takes a backseat to the price of the flight.
Now no solution is going to work for everyone. In our opinion, if comfort and convenience is more important than the price of your tickets then you should fly direct from Heathrow. If the price of your tickets is more important and you don’t mind stopping over in another country for a few hours then an indirect flight is a good option for you.
With the second option, you also have a wide selection of year round flights from your favourite UK airport too. But if getting to the airport is something that is putting you off from flying directly that shouldn’t be the case. At UK Airport Transfers we can offer airport transfers to all of the major UK airports including London Heathrow for a fraction of the price of other airport transfer services.
Conclusion
If you want to fly direct to the Maldives from the UK the only airport that offers this is Heathrow airport which is easily accessible via London city via the tube station and our own private airport transfers. At Heathrow, you can either travel with Sri Lanka Airlines or British Airways, both have a similar flight time and the price of flights are similar too.