Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL), the company operating the national airline, Maldivian, suffered a loss of MVR 29 million in the first quarter of this year.
The quarterly review published by the Ministry of Finance showed that IASL earned MVR 436 in the first quarter of this year.
Although this was more than their revenue for this period last year, after factoring in their expenses, it was revealed that IASL suffered a loss of MVR 29.8 million. The report suggested that the reason for the loss was due to the increased salaries and allowances paid to their staff during the first quarter.
Additionally, it was reported that the levied income tax and finance cost had increased in the first quarter of 2022 in comparison to the previous quarters.
Maldivian suffered a loss of almost MVR 30 million in the first quarter after being in profit for the final half of last year. They suffered losses in the first two quarters of last year as well.
Maldivian’s Profit / Loss for the year 2021
First Quarter: Loss of MVR 25.3 million
Second Quarter: Loss of MVR 99.6 million
Third Quarter: Profit of MVR 9.6 million
Fourth Quarter: Profit of MVR 24.7 million
While Maldivian continues to operate on a loss, the opposition and some of the parliament members have speculated that the national airline is headed towards bankruptcy.