It had previously suspended the entry of South Asian travellers, effective May 13, when the second wave was at its peak. Keep in mind, however, that tourists may be accommodated in guesthouses at local islands only after July 30, 2021.

Now, after almost two months, the restrictions have been eased a bit, and tourists will be issued a visa on-arrival.

Here are some important things to keep in mind:

* In order to be able to visit the island country, you must be able to show a confirmation of your hotel reservation at the airport.

* All tourists — including those who have received both the doses of their Covid vaccine — must produce a negative RT-PCR test report, with samples taken at least 48 hours and at most 72 hours, prior to departure.

TMA began negotiating debt relief with Carlyle and its other creditors after the airline grounded most of its fleet of 56 seaplanes last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic halted travel and tourism into the Maldives.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity, said Carlyle took majority ownership of TMA from Bain in exchange for agreeing to restructure the airline’s outstanding debt of about $300 million.

Lenders including hedge fund managers King Street Capital Management and Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP took stakes in TMA alongside Carlyle. Bain and Tempus Group, a Chinese tourism-focused conglomerate, retained minority stakes in TMA, according to the sources.

Carlyle said TMA’s current management team will remain in place. A newly reconstituted board will include Lars Erik Nielsen, one of the airline’s founders.

Bain Capital had owned most of TMA since 2017, when it paid over $500 million in a leveraged buyout deal, together with Tempus, to acquire the airline from Blackstone Group Inc.

Airlines are expecting that widespread vaccinations and the easing of travel restrictions will lead to a rebound in domestic and international flights as more people book trips for business and leisure.

“We anticipate the vaccination rollout will continue and we will go back to some sort of normality in the Maldives by sometime during 2022,” Carlyle managing director Ian Jackson said in an interview.

Carlyle’s acquisition of TMA was carried out by the private equity firm’s global credit unit, which has $59 billion in assets under management.

The press conference was organised in the President’s Office, where President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made the announcement that the country will resume issuing tourist visas to South Asian travellers.

Maldives Ministry of Tourism also took to Twitter and tweeted, “Maldives will start issuing on-arrival tourist visas starting 15th July to tourists travelling from South Asia. Tourists require negative PCR result to enter Maldives. Further details will follow accordingly”.

People with work visas can also enter the country from July 1 onwards, but will have to quarantine in the Maldives.

The island nation is one of the top beach attractions in the world. The destination has been a saving grace for Indian travellers during the pandemic. But, the second COVID-19 wave in India had been deadly, which forced the Maldives to shut its borders for Indian travellers last month.

Now that the cases have significantly gone down in India, the beach destination has once again opened its border, with all the COVID safety measures in place. As per the reports, the Maldives has been visited by over 400,000 tourists since the beginning of January. Russians have been on top of the chart, followed by Indians.