Private jet to Baa Atoll

Baa Atoll, north-west of Malé, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the home of Hanifaru Bay, where manta rays gather to feed from May to December. Its resorts are 30 to 40 minutes by seaplane from Velana International Airport, or a short domestic flight to Dharavandhoo and a boat ride away. Travellers on a private jet have a third choice: Maafaru International Airport in neighbouring Noonu, from where Baa resorts are about 15 minutes away by seaplane.

Baa itself has no runway for international private flights. Dharavandhoo is a domestic airport with a 1,189 m runway, used by scheduled turboprops from Malé. A jet from abroad therefore lands at Velana or at Maafaru, and that choice decides how the last part of the journey works. Maldives Private Jet compares both for your resort and charters the jet from an operator holding an Air Operator Certificate.

Three ways into Baa

Resorts and their transfers

Each resort publishes its own transfer options. The examples below come from the resorts' websites; we confirm the times for your dates when the flight is booked.

Four Seasons at Landaa Giraavaru flies two aircraft of its own, the 10-seat Flying Boxfish and the 8-seat Flying Triggerfish, and its last seaplane out usually leaves at 15:00. Soneva advises against the speedboat from Malé: the crossing takes about two and a half hours and can be rough.

Maafaru or Velana for a Baa resort

From all six cities in the tables below the jet reaches Maafaru a few minutes sooner than Velana and costs the same or slightly less. The real gain is on the ground: a seaplane hop of about 15 minutes instead of 30 to 40. Amilla, for example, names Maafaru as the closest international airport for private jets and offers a private seaplane from there.

Velana keeps one advantage: the domestic flight to Dharavandhoo. After a late landing, the seaplane from either airport is no longer an option, but from Velana the group can still take a turboprop and a boat the same evening, while from Maafaru the alternative is a long boat ride, two hours to Amilla. The airport itself, its runway and its apron are described on the page about Maafaru International Airport.

The biosphere reserve and Hanifaru Bay

According to Visit Maldives, the reserve covers more than 139,000 hectares of reefs, islands, seagrass beds and mangroves, just north of the Kaashidhoo channel. Its reefs host about 1,200 reef-associated marine species and 250 species of stony and soft corals, and turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and seabirds are found here. In the nine core areas extraction of any kind is prohibited and anchoring is allowed only in emergencies.

Hanifaru Bay lies on the eastern side of the atoll. When the tide brings in plankton, up to a hundred manta rays can gather in a single feeding event, and the season runs from May to December. Only guided snorkelling is permitted in the bay, with no scuba diving, and the rules are explained on the page about things to do in the Maldives. On land, Goidhoo Koaru, the largest mangrove forest in Baa, is listed among the protected areas of the Maldives.

Prices to Maafaru

All figures are guide prices for a one-way charter of the whole jet, before passenger taxes and fees. Large cabin jets are those our route data proposes for each departure city:

Shared by eight, the Legacy 650 from Mumbai to Maafaru comes to €3,800 per person; sixteen guests in the Gulfstream G650 from Zurich pay €7,500 each. The route pages for Riyadh to the Maldives and Zurich to the Maldives show other aircraft classes.

Prices to Velana for comparison

The same large cabin jets to Malé, where the seaplane or the domestic flight to Dharavandhoo begins:

The difference is small: €5,000 less to Maafaru from London Farnborough, €2,000 from Riyadh and Dubai, €1,000 from Mumbai, and the same price from Zurich and Moscow. Over the whole journey the shorter seaplane matters more than the price. More aircraft from India are on the page for Mumbai to the Maldives.

Planning a trip to Baa

• Choose the season: the dry north-east monsoon lasts from December to April, while the Hanifaru season, May to December, falls mostly in the wetter south-west monsoon. December offers both, but it is also the busiest month for private jets.
• Reserve the Hanifaru Bay excursion with the resort once the dates are fixed, as only a limited number of people may be in the bay at a time.
• Allow at least a month for permits and parking in the high season, November to March; Maafaru's apron was enlarged to 30 jets because demand outgrew it.
• Give the resort the number and weight of bags early, including dive gear and golf clubs, as seaplane baggage is weighed and limited.
• Submit the IMUGA traveller declaration for each guest in the 96 hours before arrival, and budget for two charges of US$480 per foreign passenger, the departure tax and the airport development fee, when the jet leaves.

Repositioning flights sold as Empty Legs cost 30 to 60 % less than a regular charter, if your dates can follow the aircraft. Couples and small groups can use Jet Sharing, where seats are paid only once the flight is full. How seaplanes, domestic flights and boats work in general is explained on the page about transfers to and from the airport.

Questions about private jets to Baa Atoll

• • Which airport should a private jet use for Baa Atoll?

  • Velana or Maafaru. Maafaru in Noonu is closer, about 15 minutes by seaplane; Velana adds the option of a domestic flight to Dharavandhoo after the seaplanes have stopped.

• • Is there an international airport in Baa?

  • No. Dharavandhoo is a domestic airport with a 1,189 m runway, served by scheduled flights from Malé.

• • How long is the seaplane from Malé?

  • About 30 minutes to Soneva Fushi and about 35 minutes to Milaidhoo, Amilla, Dusit Thani and Anantara Kihavah. Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru gives 35 to 40 minutes.

• • Can we still reach Baa after a late landing in Malé?

  • Take a domestic flight to Dharavandhoo and the resort's boat. Milaidhoo and Anantara Kihavah offer exactly this for late arrivals, and Soneva's last domestic flight leaves at 23:15.

• • When can we see mantas at Hanifaru Bay?

  • From May to December, when the tide carries plankton into the bay. Trips are snorkelling only, led by a certified guide.

• • How much does a private jet from Dubai to Baa cost?

  • A Challenger 350 to Maafaru costs from €33,000 one way and flies in 4 h 6 min. A Legacy 650 costs €44,000 to Maafaru or €46,000 to Velana.

• • Is Maafaru cheaper than Velana?

  • Slightly or not at all: from London Farnborough the G650 costs €130,000 to Maafaru and €135,000 to Velana, from Zurich €120,000 to both. The time saved on the transfer is the bigger gain.

• • Can the jet wait at Maafaru during our stay?

  • Often, yes. Its apron holds 30 jets, and in the festive season it also takes aircraft that cannot park at Velana. The handling agent confirms the stand with the permit.

With your resort, travel dates and group size we can price the flight to both Maafaru and Velana: