maldives airways
trans maldivian airways sea plane terminal, ibrahim nasir international airport, male', republic of maldives (9, 403. 48 mi) maale, maale, maldives
maldives airways was owned and operated by the plo. this airline was one of the many companies which also functioned as a screen for the secret activities of the plo at that time and maldives airways planes were engaged in smuggling weapons or drugs for the palestinian authority
sadly, british airways also flies back from the maldives. you will have to leave eventually – at least until your next holiday .
book your flights to the maldives with etihad airways and get ready to explore the 26 islands that form the ‘necklace of the indian ocean’ .
in the summer months british airways flies to the maldives vis doha, using our partner airline, qatar airways. from november to march, you can book a direct flight from london to malé, the capital of the islands .
you can fly to the maldives every day of the year with our partner airline, qatar airways, from london, manchester and edinburgh. if you are flying with qatar airways, your journey will include a stop in doha. between november and march you can also fly direct to the maldives with british airways. in both cases, you’ll fly into malé, the capital .
hummingbird island airways was a regional airline based at male international (mle) [ trans maldivian airways was founded as hummingbird island helicopters in 1989 & commenced services on 30jun1989 using a fleet of helicopters. started fixed wing operations in 1997 when it was renamed to hummingbird island airways. renamed again in 2001 to trans maldivian airways. had maldivian air taxi merge in in 2001
today, trans maldivian airways (pilot ken simkins) ferries visitors to more than 100 resorts .
read our baggage guide to answer your specific queries about luggage allowances when you fly with british airways .
no further information at this time [ hummingbird island airways was a regional airline based at male international (mle) [ trans maldivian airways was founded as hummingbird island helicopters in 1989 & commenced services on 30jun1989 using a fleet of helicopters. started fixed wing operations in 1997 when it was renamed to hummingbird island airways. renamed again in 2001 to trans maldivian airways. had maldivian air taxi merge in in 2001 ]
maldivian air taxi was founded in 1993 & started operations on 04nov1993 (tourist and sightseeing airline based at male international airport) merged into trans maldivian airways (tourist and sightseeing airline based at male international airport) hummingbird island airways was a regional airline based at male international (mle) [ trans maldivian airways was founded as hummingbird island helicopters in 1989 & commenced services on 30jun1989 using a fleet of helicopters. started fixed wing operations in 1997 when it was renamed to hummingbird island airways. renamed again in 2001 to trans maldivian airways. had maldivian air taxi merge in in 2001 ]
trans maldivian airways is your getaway to the stunning maldives. with the world' s largest seaplane fleet, trans maldivian airways takes you from velana international airport in malé to your island holiday destination. life is about the journey, and this will likely be the most scenic one in your life. read more ...
curious about the scale of our operation? take a sneak peek behind the scenes of trans maldivian airways… read more ...
british airways’ seasonal direct flights depart three times a week from london gatwick, on sunday, wednesday and friday. flights will land the following day at malé. direct flights back from the maldives to london depart on mondays, thursdays and saturdays .
from the air, the atolls of the maldives look like turquoise constellations. as you approach land, they’re more like emeralds set in white - beach bezels: nothing short of exquisitely beautiful. jetting off to the maldives is a bucket list cliché for a reason – beloved by celebrities, remembered by all who visit, these islands really could be the most beautiful place on earth. fly to the maldives with british airways for your best holiday yet .
pilot rob mcintyre spent two years in the maldives. “i have great memories, ” he says .
with a fleet of more than 40 de havilland twin otters, trans maldivian airways operates the largest seaplane operation in the world. read more ...
november to march is peak season in the maldives. the weather is lovely as the dry season rolls around and people flock to escape the winter months – plus you can fly direct with british airways. however, because it’s such a popular time, flight prices can rise accordingly – especially around christmas and new year. throughout the rest of the year you can generally find more inexpensive, indirect flights with our partner airline, qatar airways. look out for cheap flights to maldives after may, in the low season .
air maldives was founded on 01oct1974 & started operations on 09oct1974. it declared bankruptcy and stopped all operations in 2000
discover the best fares at etihad airways to our top destinations. our special prices offer you the opportunity to experience etihad’s outstanding service for less. book now before seats fill .
the main tourist season runs from december to march when people in northern climates escape their winters for a little fun in the sun. if you are travelling during this time it is highly recommended that you book your tickets to the maldives well in advance. the rest of the year can be considered the monsoon season, but the rainfall varies quite a bit. from april to november the rains are more intense, but it is a great time to find cheap hotels in the maldives. flight deals to the maldives are easy to find with etihad airways .
tourism in the maldives began in 1972 with just two resorts. today, ibrahim nasir international airport handles two million passengers annually .
find out more about the maldives and keep up - to - date with information about your tma flight! read more ...
it’s not a silly question. officially, the maldives all runs on one time zone: five hours ahead of gmt. however, some resorts have unofficial time zones so that guests can enjoy longer evenings. resorts might be 30 minutes, an hour or an hour and a half ahead of maldives time (mht). check with your resort. malé, the capital, sticks with maldives time .
mega maldives was established in 2010. it received an aoc on 22dec2010, and its first domestic flight was from malé to gan on 28dec2010. mega maldives air has officially announced it suspended all commercial flight operations with effect from 02may2017. it has now decided to close down completely
the success of trans maldivian airways has been through the efforts of our team. today, we employ more than eight hundred dedicated team members representing twenty nationalities. we aim for the highest standards of professional and personal competence to provide the visitors to the maldives with an incredible experience. if you feel you could contribute... read more ...
you can fly direct from gatwick airport (lgw) to velana international airport (mle – also known as malé international airport) in around ten hours. if you’re flying with qatar airways, you will change planes at doha .
you don’t want to start your holiday stressed. follow these little tips and see if they can’t help you arrive refreshed and ready to relax in the maldives .
after two years in the maldives, mcintyre flew charters in wheel - equipped twin otters in angola, which offered him longer home leave and was closer to his canadian home—and his family, who tired of life in the maldives. he’s now a production test pilot on the new dhc6 series 400 twin otter. mcintyre says his maldives experience helped him in angola, where he might take off on a paved runway but land on a soccer field or in six inches of mud .
our generous baggage allowances allow you to take everything you need for a longer break in the maldives. when you book a package holiday or fly standard economy you can check in one piece of luggage weighing up to 23kg. if you’re travelling premium economy (world traveller plus), you can take two bags weighing 23kg each. business (club world) travellers can take two bags of up to 32kg. that’s a lot of flip flops! our partner airline, qatar airways, offers up to 30kg of luggage in economy (world traveller), extending to 40kg in business (club world). please refer to the qatar airways codeshare page for more information .
the maldives might be small and remote, but your resort will have plenty of activities on hand, from whale shark spotting to sunset cruises and desert island exploration. read up on the best things to do in the maldives. then slip on your snorkel mask, slap on a kaftan or sink into a spa day: the choice is yours .
there are two seasons in the maldives – the popular dry season runs from december to march, and the so - called wet season runs from may to november. both seasons are great for visitors, as the maldives have a tropical climate and an average temperature of a perfect 26 - 30°c all year round. generally, early may and early november see more unsettled weather .
the official currency of the maldives is the maldivian rufiyaa, but you won’t need to use it if you’re staying on resort. resorts accept dollars, as well as credit and debit cards .
in india, there’s a lot of talk about twin otters: they are proposed for an air service that will link the beaches of the country’s west coast; they provide transportation around sri lanka or india’s andaman islands, and to the north, the chinese knockoffs known as twin pandas ply the mountains of nepal. the maldivian service, however, has the biggest twin otter fleet in the world. run by trans maldivian airways, the 44 - aircraft service links resorts spread across the atolls and supports the maldives’ most profitable industry: tourism. as the service has grown, it has become the template for other seaplane operators worldwide, and among a globe - trotting breed of twin otter pilots, landing a flying job in the maldives is a point of pride. many pilots who want to try open - ocean flying come to the maldives, and some stay for years .
de havilland canada discontinued production of the twin otter in 1988 after having exported them to 74 countries, but the dhc - 6 otter is still the ideal airplane for an environment like the maldives .
groth and alsford say they see some maldivian pilots starting to shift to land - based airlines, especially with the launch in 2012 of mega maldives, an airline with a fleet of 767s serving the maldives from china. “some more experienced guys are starting to say ‘hey, are we going to fly these floats the rest of our lives, or are we going to do something else? ’ ”
landing at malé airport doesn’t have to mean the end of the bird’s eye views. step on board a charming twin otter seaplane to transfer to your resort and enjoy one more panorama before landing on the beach. most british airways maldives holiday packages include the price of your transfer, so you can have a smooth, stress - free journey into paradise – all paid for in advance. plus, our generous luggage allowance ensures you can take enough clothing to last a nice long stay – you deserve it .
over a thousand islands, hundreds of resorts, and an untold number of beaches: it' s hard to know where to stay in the maldives. that' s why we' ve picked out the best maldives resorts for you. with their overwater villas, intimate island settings, and specialist diving centres, these places will help you get a lifetime of memories out of your trip of a lifetime .
accident to 8q - tma: the aircraft, operated by trans maldivian airways was maneuvering on the water near the floating platform, after landing in the lagoon near holiday island resort, when it struck another twin otter (8q - tmh) that was parked against the floating platform. there were no passengers on either aircraft .
trans maldivian airways services include resort transfers, photo flights, private charter, excursions and medical evacuation flights. photo flights – the standard photo flight package starting and finishing at the airport includes a 15 - minute flyover. it is a very popular charter service and comes at a reasonable price resort transfers – transfer of guests to and... read more ...
british nationals will be issued a visa on arrival in the maldives. your visa will cover up to 30 days’ holiday. you may need to show that you have a departure date booked, and sometimes that you have enough funds to cover your stay .
date and time: 19 february 2001 at 0810 hrs lt location: near holiday island resort operator: trans maldivian airways pvt. ltd. aircraft: de havilland dhc - 6 - 100 (8q - tma) and dhc - 6 - 300 (8q - tmh) number of persons in the aircraft: 3 injuries to persons: none damage to aircraft: both aircraft sustained substantial damage .
date and time: 17 may 2004 at 1101 hrs local time (lt) location: male' international airport operator: trans maldivian airways pvt. ltd. aircraft: de havilland dhc - 6 - 300 (floatplane) number of persons in the aircraft: 17 injuries to persons: fatalities - 0, serious injuries - 3, minor injuries - 1 damage to aircraft: total write - off .
the maldives offers world - class scuba diving and the offshore reefs in the area are teeming with all kinds of colourful fish darting all over the stunning coral formations. most people will tell you that the maldives are simply a paradise for scuba so if you don’t dive already, be sure to get certified while you are here. you really cannot afford to miss out on the chance to experience the underwater world here. the best time to dive in these waters is in the months of april and november when the water is incredibly clear .
eight years ago, shareef went to florida to get his seaplane rating after maldivian air taxi agreed to match the $ 20, 000 his father - in - law gave him for flight training. when he returned to the maldives, ken simkins trained him in twin otters .
a direct flight to the maldives takes around ten hours and some flights include a stopover. make sure you beat jetlag by living in your new time zone as soon as possible. use our jet lag advisor to find out when to rest and when to keep yourself awake during the journey .
in the hangar during my visit was an aircraft acquired from a seller in greenland, which after a tour in the maldives was being checked for saltwater corrosion, the air service’s “biggest problem, ” says rees. “all of our preventive maintenance and inspections are looking towards it, ” he adds .
still, flying in the maldives is something most twin otter devotees want on their résumés. “i’ve never met a seaplane pilot that hasn’t heard of the maldives, even if they don’t know where it is, ” says rob mcintyre, a former captain with maldivian air taxi. “it’s a legendary job, and i’m really proud that i’m part of that exclusive club. there’s no better feeling than putting an airplane down in water that you wouldn’t even want to be in a boat in, and the passengers don’t even notice until the plane has stopped and is bobbing up and down in the water. ”
for foreign pilots who don’t scuba dive, fish, or surf, the maldives might seem like an aquatic prison. local food is tasty but often too spicy for the average canadian palate, and good western food can be found only at resorts, which are geared more toward honeymooning couples than weary pilots .
thanks to imports, resorts in the maldives can provide guests with every cuisine under the sun. if you want a taste of the local produce, turn to fresh fish, coconuts, and curry. invite yourself to a seafood barbecue for blistered pink langoustine or track down a ‘mas riha’ (tuna curry) .
“just a bit of local showers. you can go around them if you like, ” nielsen told neil travers, a trainee copilot who, like nielsen, wore green cargo shorts and aviator sunglasses. both men work for tma, an island airline formed by joining trans maldivian airways with another carrier, maldivian air taxi. and both had jettisoned their flip - flops after boarding the floatplane and were flying with bare feet. “looks kind of picturesque though, ” nielsen said .
date and time: 18 october 1995 at 1055 hrs lt location: male' international airport operator: air maldives ltd aircraft: dornier 228 number of persons in the aircraft: 8 injuries to persons: fatalities - 0, serious injuries - 1, minor injuries - 2 damage to aircraft: total write - off .
as i was leaving the maldives, i decided to lay over in colombo and fly with sri lankan air taxi (slat), a fledgling service set up with the help of ken simkins and originally run by sri lanka’s national carrier using aircraft and crews from emirates airlines. at a dock rented from a buddhist temple on a bend in colombo’s kelani river, i boarded a twin otter painted in the technicolor tropical motifs of slat. the captain that day was another canadian, bruce gordon, who described himself as “a classic bush pilot. ” both gordon and his copilot had flown in the maldives, as had slat’s fleet of twin otters .
it’s not hard to see why this one of the most popular resorts in the maldives: lux * south ari atoll is a five - star beauty with lavish villas that feel like home. as one of the larger resorts, it has a range of restaurants to suit all tastes, plus it’s near one of the best places for whale shark sightings .
the maldives has shown that travel to even the remotest and unspoilt archipelagos on the planet is attainable. the islands’ striking beauty, combined with luxury resorts, would not be as accessible as they are if it wasn’t for a handful of daring people. they turned their passion into a service benefiting visitors, resorts and maldivians... read more ...
that was an understatement. a remote island nation about 250 miles southwest of india in the laccadive sea, the republic of the maldives comprises nearly 1, 200 islands, around 200 of which are inhabited. many of the rest, which make up 26 atolls spread out over 35, 000 square miles, are nothing more than rings of sand surrounding tiffany - blue lagoons or bottle - green mini - jungles. the beauty of the maldives—along with their remoteness—has made the islands a vacation spot for the affluent—and tma a successful business. the reefs are among the most diverse marine habitats in the world, home to manta rays and giant turtles. and the skies are abuzz with twin otters, the floatplanes in the tma fleet .
the self - contained islands of the maldives are made for all inclusive holidays. find the best resort for you, whether you' ve got your family in tow or it' s just the two of you. these four carefully - selected hotels really have thought of everything, from cocktails to kayaking, to make your stay special – with no big bill at the end .
unlike western canada and alaska, where many of the maldives’ floatplane pilots (and airplanes) got their start, the maldives has no thick fog clinging to glassy water surfaces or mountains to navigate around—its highest elevation is only 26 feet. seaplane pilots fly according to visual flight rules. but open - ocean flying in a tourism - dependent resort nation has another set of challenges. when the monsoon is robust, pilots may have to land in heavy crosswinds with the floats straddling swells that can reach three feet. were a pilot to land into the wind, on the crest of a wave, the airplane, if unable to stop fast enough, could be pitched back into the air by the next wave, which could cause it to stall at a very low altitude .
the maldives was long a sultanate, first under dutch and then under british protection. it consists of1, 190 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls (200 inhabited islands, plus 80 islands with tourist resorts); archipelago with strategic location astride and along major sea lanes in indian ocean. it became a republic in 1968, three years after independence. tourism and fishing are being developed on the archipelago .
shareef remembers his father taking him to the airport when he was 10 to see the first charter condor air jumbo jet land in the maldives. “it was the biggest aircraft that had come here up till that point, ” shareef says. “a lot of people from malé came [ by ] dhoni and waited by the runway to see that flight land. from then, i wanted to be a pilot. ”
in the maldives i met ken simkins, who has been training twin otter pilots since 1983 and became the chief pilot for maldivian air taxi shortly after the airline began in 1993. at that time, says simkins, most of the airplanes, pilots, and engineers were supplied by the calgary - based charter kenn borek air, which leases aircraft for polar scientific expeditions, u. n. missions, and oil exploration support .
you can’t say you’ve seen the maldives until you’ve seen what’s underwater. the snorkelling here is considered some of the best in the world. there are over 1, 100 species of fish – that’s almost as many as there are maldivian islands – and many of them form part of the reef ecosystem. look out for parrotfish chewing on the coral, moody barracuda close to the surface, and tiny clownfish dipping in and out of anemones .
i was listening through a headset as the crew made a late loop, flying tourists to three luxury resorts—the vast majority of the maldives’ resorts are high - end—in alifu atoll, about 50 miles southwest of the ibrahim nasir international airport, which is little more than a runway on an island made of reclaimed sand adjacent to the capital island city of malé. with me were 13 passengers from russia, china, and europe, who sat with faces or cameras pressed against the otter’s windows .
the portuguese and dutch had settlements in the maldives before it became a british protectorate, in 1887. in 1965 it gained independence from the united kingdom, which retained use of the base at gan in the southernmost seenu atoll. simkins, who served in the royal air force and the canadian air force from 1970 until he joined kba in 1993, had visited gan in the mid - 1970s. recently, its airstrip was developed as another base for tourist flights, including flights in seaplanes .
simkins first met maldivian air taxi owner lars erik nielsen in the summer of 1993, when nielsen was in vancouver looking to rent or buy a seaplane to bring to the maldives. “nielsen had come out here as a diver, and his thinking was: ‘people want to go to these islands, but after they’ve been traveling for 16, 18 hours, they don’t want to do another three and a half hours [ in a boat ] in the open ocean, getting seasick. ’ he thought seaplanes might be the answer. when we started, there were maybe half a dozen resorts served by seaplanes; now there are a hundred or so. ”
floatplane pilots, says nielsen, are a small, itinerant community. many in the maldives hail from other floatplane environments, where there are few roads but lakes and rivers abound. other twin otter pilots flew with wheels in australia, and some have flown with skis in antarctica. “everybody knows everybody, ” nielsen says. “it’s a very international group [ because ] floatplane flying is seasonal work. in the northern hemisphere, when it is winter and there are no jobs, they come here. then they go back home during the [ summer ] low season here. some are doing firefighting in north america, and they come here in the winter when there are no fires. it is a very natural rotation. ”
money permits him to influence states by moving around liquid assets. some $ 700 million was moved out of jordan in 1986 to protest king husayn' s policies; $ 200 million was once transferred into tunisia as a reward. nor are all investments apolitical. funds are on occasion loaned to allies in need, such as $ 12 million to the nicaraguan government in 1981 and $ 100 million to iraq in 1986 .
friendship
projects have included factories and farms in places like syria, guinea, the maldives, and poland.' arafat also has the means to do the odd favor. in 1985, he is said to have won the release of three soviet hostages held in beirut by paying $ 15 million to fundamentalist muslims .
in the nearly 25 years that the air taxi has been flying, malé has changed significantly. when ulrik nielsen arrived in the 1990s, the buildings were low - rise and the roads unpaved. “at that time it was around 60, 000 people living there, ” he says. since then, the population has increased to more than 103, 000, and more land has been reclaimed to make room for more pastel - colored, 10 - story - plus buildings. the migration was abetted by the 2004 indian ocean tsunami, which caused extensive damage on many of the local islands, causing an exodus. (the maldives were spared worse damage by the barrier reefs. the air service was lucky that most of its airplanes were in the air when the tsunami struck, but several airplanes in the hangar were damaged. )
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[ n. b. : the following reflects what the author submitted, and not exactly what was published. to obtain the precise text of what was printed, please check the original place of publication. ]
soon after kuwait disappeared into the iraqi maw on 2 august 1991, the palestine liberation organization (plo) found itself bereft of its three largest sources of funds. angry at yasir' arafat' s enthusiastic endorsement of saddam husayn' s aggression, the saudi and kuwaiti governments stopped paying $ 72 and $ 24 million a year, respectively. the united arab emirates, qatar, and egypt also followed suit. and the iraqis, who had been paying some $ 48 million annually, lacked the funds to continue paying
to make matters worse, kuwait was the palestinians' el dorado, and their wealth in that country was almost completely lost. the numbers involved are large, even if they don' t reach the wild estimates proffered by plo officials: $ 8 billion according to muhammad milham of the plo executive committee; somewhere between $ 8. 5 billion and $ 12. 6 billion according to yasir' arafat; and $ 13 billion according to salim az - za' nun, the plo' s representative in kuwait. (these obviously hyperbolic numbers have been picked up by reputable media; jonathan c. randal reports the $ 10 billion figure with a straight face in the washington post .) in addition, palestinians in the territories occupied by israel lost, again according to yasir' arafat, $ 1. 4 billion .
alienating contributors and losing capital has serious consequences for the plo. its income appears to be about half of what it was before 2 august and expenditures have fallen by 30 percent. according to a report in the jerusalem post, the organization' s revenue fell by as much as 90 percent. plo employees, armed and not, have already experienced pay cuts and more reductions lie ahead. a reduction of pay to palestinian fighters in early 1991 provoked a mutiny in fat' h in lebanon; fat' h responded by summarily executing the malcontents, apparently hoping this would prevent a collapse in the chain of command .
although it would be unwise ever to discount the plo, an organization that regularly rebounds from adversity, this blow can be expected severely to crimp its activities and its ambition to remain the dominant palestinian organization .
during the plo' s heyday in lebanon, 1970 - 82, when it ran a state - within - a - state, revenues derived mostly from a wide array of legal and illegal commercial activities. the result was a formidable war chest. abu musa, a one - time ally of' arafat' s, has stated that in 1982 the plo had $ 1 billion in lebanese banks alone .
on the legal side, the plo got involved in some surprising ventures. the popular front for the liberation of palestine, for example, ran the modern mechanical establishment, an iron and steel company south of sidon. the company made money by paying no taxes, using coercive sales methods, and engaging in predatory pricing. then, after forcing the competition to go out of business, it raised prices .
lebanon' s anarchy offered unbounded opportunities for illegal activities: drug trafficking, protection rackets, robberies, hijackings, and the training of foreign terrorists. drug trafficking was by far the steadiest and most lucrative racket during the lebanon years; during the late 1970s, when the plo ruled substantial portions of lebanon, drug - trafficking is said to have brought the plo $ 300 million a year. other activities also brought spectacular returns. the december 1975 capture of opec oil ministers reportedly netted the plo $ 20 million. a few months later, the plo participated in what the guinness book of world records calls the largest bank heist of all time; robbing the beirut branch of the british bank of the middle east brought the plo one - third the loot, between $ 16 and $ 33 million .
the expulsion from beirut in 1982 ended this financial golden era. the plo has since re - established its operations in lebanon; even today, james adams comments, it remains
a major economic influence in the country - or what' s left of it .
but lebanon' s economy has fallen apart since 1982, so revenues from there are a fraction of what they were earlier .
also, while soviet - bloc aid used to amount to the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars annually, provided in cash, arms, training, and intelligence, eastern europe' s liberation and the ravages of perestroika have caused this once - reliable source virtually to dry up .
deprived of these sources, the plo has in recent years become heavily dependent on handouts from arab presidents, kings, and emirs - a demeaning return to pre - 1970 circumstances. gone are those heady days when' arafat had the leeway to act independently of his state sponsors. the plo has steadily received at least $ 100 million a year from the arab states since 1973, but the amount has recently edged toward $ 250 - 300 million a year. arab states agreed to take up this slack in plo funding primarily for offensive reasons (to gain influence) or defensive ones (to avoid retribution); in some cases they may even have done so out of conviction .
nearly all of this income came from kuwait, saudi arabia, and the other states that have just cut the plo off. according to plo records made public in 1988, the saudi authorities over the previous decade had donated $ 855 million. salim az - za' nun, the plo' s representative in kuwait, announced that the kuwaitis had provided his organization with $ 2 billion over 26 years. in fact, the total contribution was much more, for both governments funneled massive amounts to yasir' arafat personally. abu musa, indirectly confirmed this point in 1983 :
saudi arabia gives him tens, hundreds of millions, to corrupt not to develop the revolution. it does not appear in the books. it is much more than the official contributions .
not all the money came from government coffers. palestinians living in arab countries are supposed to pay 3 to 7. 5 percent of their salaries by way of tax to the plo. while it is unclear when and where these funds were actually collected and transmitted to the plo, it appears that kuwait, saudi arabia, and the uae were the only states to do so on a regular basis; samir khalaf estimated that palestinians in kuwait alone sent $ 150 million a year to the west bank and gaza before the iraqi invasion. all this has come to an end since 2 august 1991 .
individual palestinians make contributions, especially at times of crisis, ranging from the very small (the purchase of
arab liberation stamps
) to the very large. some contributions are voluntary, others extracted by threats .
the plo' s operations and political prominence depend heavily on money, and so the sudden disappearance of half the organization' s budget is causing many problems .
money gives yasir' arafat control over some twenty thousand gunmen, consisting of both conventional and irregular forces. it permits diplomacy on a grand scale; the plo has two more
embassies
than israel and' arafat sometimes visits three or four capitals in his own plane on a single day. it furthers the plo' s terrorist and military efforts. there' s nothing like buying a small airline to penetrate the world of civil aviation, and this is what the plo has done, through one george khallaq, when it bought part equity in transportes aeros de guinea - bissau. on a smaller scale, the plo has shown a marked interest in leasing commercial space at airports .
money sways public opinion by allowing the plo to subsidize the media. in february 1986, for example, a payment of some $ 150, 000 to the pro - jordanian al - quds newspaper of jerusalem rapidly turned around that paper' s editorial stance .
money reduces the chances that a rival palestinian organization will challenge' arafat' s leadership. half a year after the intifada erupted, the plo responded by offering $ 50 million to its leadership - a clear attempt to bring an unruly upstart under company control. hamas, the fundamentalist muslim group that has emerged as the plo' s only serious rival, hopes to join the plo to tap its funds .
money makes it possible to provision social, welfare, economic, cultural, and educational services which win palestinian allegiance to the plo. when traveling in poor countries,' arafat dispenses money freely .
finally, not to be overlooked is the opulent way of life - elegant villas in tunisia, first - class travel, and the other perquisites of power - that money bestows on the plo pashas. zuhayr muhsin, for example, acquired a pronounced taste for gambling on the côte d' azur. others put aside impressive nest eggs. wadi haddad, the plo' s explosive expert killed in 1978, is said by his comrades - in - arms to have left his sister a bequest of $ 140 million .
notwithstanding the talk of' arafat' s abstemious ways, he too enjoys what one newspaper account terms
a billionaire' s life ,
including private planes, government guest houses, and the like. those in the know also point to the fortune he has put aside. the saudi press noted that' arafat
helps himself to the aid supplied to the plo and the palestinians .
mustafa tallas, the syrian defense minister, claims that yasir' arafat owns $ 12 billion in his own name and is
one of the world' s ten richest men .
tallas further claims' arafat stole £1. 7 billion from ar - rafidayn bank in beirut, which he deposited in his own name, not that of the plo .
while this is obviously hyperbole,' arafat himself does not deny possessing
a great deal of money .
he alleges, however, that it comes entirely from the money he made as an engineer in the 1950s in kuwait; from the plo, he claims to take not so much as a salary .
to maintain close control over plo finances,' arafat personally makes deposits and signs large checks. while this highly centralized control leads to resentments and gross inefficiencies, it also makes' arafat indispensable. as one jordanian official put it ,
they have to keep arafat because if he goes, no one will know where the money is .
wealth has become so central to the plo' s presence and influence, it sometimes looms larger than military considerations .
money is [' arafat' s ] only weapon at present ,
abu musa declared already in 1983. thus, when the plo evacuated beirut in 1982, james adams explains, its leaders
feared the israeli seizure of their assets more than they did a military defeat .
( not without reason; that exodus is estimated to have cost them $ 400 million .) confirming this attitude, a white house official recollects ,
we got these messages from the plo containing lists of bmws and mercedes' that they wanted to get on to the ships. they were very concerned to get their fleets of cars on as well as their families .
heavy dependence on large amounts of money has taken its toll; as an unnamed jordanian official once put it ,
the plo isn' t a revolution. it' s a corporation .
the size and sophistication of the plo financial apparatus makes it a key power center of the organization. one can go further: while foiling attacks and capturing foot soldiers remains important, the only way to hobble and finally put an end to plo terrorist operations is to hit it where it counts most - in the wallet .
every attempt until now to count out the plo has proven wrong; no one can predict its demise with confidence. (a bit prematurely, zbigniew brzezinski waved
bye bye, plo
in 1977 .) but the current situation, described by foreign report as a
financial catastrophe ,
is likely to translate into a severe decline in the popularity of yasir' arafat and the authority of the plo .
some may find this development unfortunate because it obstructs resolution of palestinian - israeli issues. but that grants the plo too much. it is actually today' s representative of that radical palestinian tradition that, as abba eban put it, has never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. far from serving as a force for peace, the plo has bludgeoned and suppressed more moderate elements willing to coexist with israel. for this reason, its financial predicament offers not just the likelihood of less violence in the middle east but also a rare opportunity for alternative palestinian voices to make themselves heard. let us hope that they take advantage of the moment .
mustafa tallas on yasir' arafat :
he personally owns $ 12 billion, in his own name. that sum in enough to sustain the stone - throwing children for twelve years, but he withholds this money from them and keeps on begging in their name. he stole 1. 7 billion pounds from the ar - rafidayn bank, which is a joint british - iraqi bank in beirut, and he plundered other beirut banks and deposited the money in his own name - not in the name of the plo .
the saudi media accused' arafat of
helping himself to the aid supplied to the plo and the palestinians, thus increasing his wealth and that of those around him .
yasir' arafat :
we have not received a single penny from any gulf country since may 1990... . this is to punish the plo .
' abd al -' aziz' ali shahin, one of yasir' arafat' s earliest allies, wrote a secret report in mid - 1991 which accused' arafat of being directly responsible for the deterioration of al - fat' h to
inconceivable moral degradation .
in shahin' s eyes, the guerilla fighter died long ago, replaced by a man interested in
the red carpet, the private plane of the president, free reign to spend money .
the good life has even changed the plo leadership' s outlook, making it most interested
in preserving the status quo, that is to say the financial, administrative, military, political, and mental corruption .
salah khalaf :
our movement is bureaucratized. it lost in militancy what it gained in' respectability': we acquired a taste for dealing with governments and powerful men. we take their opinions and their wishes into account. we let ourselves be entangled in the intrigues of inter - arab relations .
abu musa, the rebel fat' h figure, once explained that
arafat turned the palestinian revolution into a bureaucracy so rotten that it is worse than the bureaucracy in any underdeveloped country. naturally this institution was not capable of fighting. so when war broke out, the leadership ran away, leaving the rank and file to pay the price .
editorial in al - fajr, an arabic newspaper published in jerusalem :
the ineptness of the plo leadership in dealing with world developments is almost legendary... and threatens the future of the palestinian people... . maybe it is time some new blood be introduced into the palestinian leadership .
followers of abu iyad formed the 14 january correction movement - fat' h (that being the date of abu iyad' s murder) and put out a leaflet in the west bank attacking yasir' arafat for his marriage to suha at - tawil. the leaflet characterized him as a
scheming buffoon
and an
evil satan .
it also accused him of having killed abu iyad due to disagreements about iraq .
zaki razaq, a palestinian ex - banker from kuwait :
ninety - five percent of those [ palestinians ] who lived in kuwait don' t like arafat. he only represents himself .
austerity moves connected to the financial crisis resulting from the kuwait crisis were felt far and wide. the plo closed its separate information bureau in amman in august 1991 [ mef2 ], then soon after closed its offices in denmark, norway, and bolivia .
functionaries saw their salaries reduced and fighters lacked ammunition. the money problem got downright petty: not having paid its telephone bills, the tunisian telephone company cut the plo lines .
having been cut off from arab money, yasir' arafat had to devise new financial strategies. in july 1991, he announced a plan
to ask the europeans to increase their assistance to make up for the arabs' shortcomings .
he personally always carries with him a suitcase bearing the information of his many bank accounts. after surviving a plane crash in the libyan desert in april 1992, finding that suitcase in the sand was an urgent priority .
two men, hasib jiryus sabbagh and sa' id khuri, occupy central decision - making positions. also, these individuals occasionally make public grants of money, for example to endow chairs at american universities .
yasir' arafat holds no less than thirty - two titles within the plo, ranging from president of palestine to inspector - general of the al -' asifa forces .
patrick seale reports that abu nidal had $ 120 million in 1980, $ 400 by 1988 .
mu' ammar al - qadhdhafi supplied $ 12 a year in cash, $ 50 in stores and equipment in the mid - 1970s .
in late 1991, the saudis announced the resumption of funding for the plo, though the sum was a small one - $ 2. 1 million. a few months later, the saudis reportedly agreed to permit the plo to collect the tax levied on palestinians resident in saudi arabia, a sum of about $ 5. 5 million a month .
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maldives airways was an airline based in malé , maldives . it was operational between 1984 and 1986 , offering scheduled passenger flights using a fleet of two douglas dc-8 aircraft . the usage of american-made airplanes was quite impressive , considering that air maldives , the state airline , was operating only one short skyvan at that time . 
maldives airways was an airline based in malé, maldives. it was operational between 1984 and 1986, offering scheduled passenger flights using a fleet of two douglas dc-8 aircraft. the usage of american-made airplanes was quite impressive, considering that air maldives, the state airline, was operating only one short skyvan at that time.
maldives airways was an airline based in malé, maldives. it was operational between 1984 and 1986, offering scheduled passenger flights using a fleet of two douglas dc-8 aircraft. the usage of american-made airplanes was quite impressive, considering that air maldives, the state airline, was operating only one short skyvan at that time.