Trans Maldivian Airways is the leading sea plane operator in the Maldives. Trans Maldivian Airways operates in the newly constructed Malé Noovilu Sea Plane Terminal in Malé, Maldives. This newly constructed terminal offers a brand new departure lounge for Trans Maldivian Airways Sea Plane travellers. After checking into the W Maldives, we’d get an opportunity to try out their Coral Lounge. Read on to see what to expect after arriving off your international flight in the Maldives.

---

This post is one chapter on my trip to the Republic of the Maldives. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

---

Review: Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge, Malé Noovuli Seaplane Terminal, Maldives

Our third visit to the Maldives had us visiting both the W Maldives and the St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort. On this visit, we were coming off Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Malé and checking into our Trans Maldivian Airways Malé – W Maldives sea plane flight.

Checking into Trans Maldivian Airways:

After clearing customs and immigration, and collecting our luggage, we headed to the public side at Malé Velana International Airport.

Almost all visitors to the Maldives connect to a resort. As a result, there are dozens of transfer kiosks located outside the airport nearing almost the hundreds. We located our host from the W Maldives who was waiting for us with a sign outside of the international arrivals.

We were led over to the Trans Maldavian Airways check in area where our checked and carry on bags were weighed. Given that the maldives is an expensive destination, we had packaged a number of food and drink items with us that made the bags heavier than we would have liked.

Each resort pays for a certain amount of cargo weight and it would so happen that the W Maldives offered a less than generous 44 lbs weight allowance with their air transfer charges.

We were hit with a $60.32 USD overweight fee at 13 kg (28lbs) for the return trip. We made an effort to explain that some of the items were food and wouldn’t be accompanying us on the way back. However, this argument fell on completely deaf ears. It’s a bit of a sour way to start any trip, since you’re almost guaranteed to be over with a 50lb checked bag, but in fairness it was advertised in advance on our W Maldives reservation confirmation email.

While the bill was being processed to our hotel folio, Trans Maldivian Airways offered a map of their route network across a variety of Maldivian Atolls throughout the northern Maldives.

After our bags were processed, we were led out to a W Maldives van that would take us over to the brand new Malé Maldives Seaplane Terminal.

On our drive over to the sea plane terminal, we passed by the newly constructed (since our last visit) Friendship Bridge that links the Malé Velana International Airport to the island of Malé.

After a short six minute drive, we arrived at the new Malé Noovilu Seaplane Terminal. The Malé Noovilu Seaplane Terminal is a brand new building designed to accomodate the dozens of luxury resorts that the Maldives have to offer.

Since we had completed all check in procedures at the Trans Maldivian Airways Check In at Malé Velana international Airport, we were able to bypass the check in stands at the Malé Noovilu Seaplane Terminal.

We were led into a mall like building with a large central atrium. Our W Maldives handler led us directly to the Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge.

While most luxury properties have a dedicated hotel branded lounge in the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal Buildling. The W Maldives either hasn’t committed to this effort, or are a bit behind on this initiative, perhaps as a result of pandemic delays. As a result, we were led up to the general Trans Maldivian Airways coral Lounge to await our flight departure.

Inside the Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge:

We were led inside the Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge. The lounge was a packed and busy place, with travellers arriving off of international flights waiting their transfer to their resort.

With one large corner lounge room, there were a variety of lounge chair seating options.

There was a small enclosed massage chair room off to the right hand side, that didn’t seem to get much traffic.

We ended up getting a spot outside on the covered outdoor decks. It was exceptionally breezy outside, but with the tropical heat, it was just the thing we needed after being in transit for almost forty hours.

The Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge has among the best views out there when it comes to airplane spotting. From the outdoor deck, you’ll probably see no less than forty De Havilland Twin Otter aircraft moored up to the terminal, floating on top of green emerald waters.

The flight board inside the lounge also featured a number of seaplane airport destinations that contained airport codes limited to the Maldives.

Another plane spotting treat included spotting large commercial jets departing from the nearby Malé Velana International Airport. We were able to spot a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300 departing from the airport on a northward track back towards Doha International Airport.

Overall, the lounge seating was quite compact and limited. Despite this, we were able to enjoy our time outdoors in the tropical heat, which made the stay a lot more pleasant.

Food and Beverage:

The Trans Maldivian Airways coral Lounge offered a number of food and beverages. Considering that food is likely to cost ten times the price when on a resort, I took the opportunity to stock up on what I could while I was here

The food buffet offered both hot and cold items with buffet items that appeared remarkably fresh.

There were a surprising number of baked goods. In addition, I was able to enjoy some tuna fish sandwiches; a great comfort food given that there is ample tuna located in the Maldives.

Tinned soft drinks were available, in addition to a coffee machine for those jet lagged people having difficulty in staying awake on the Maldivian Time Zone.

Much like the other lounges in Malé such as the Leili Lounge Malé Velana International Airport, this lounge is also a dry lounge that does not serve any alcoholic beverages. If you’re looking to celebrate with some bubbles or another cocktail, you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer until you get to your resort.

We spent about one hour in the lounge prior to heading off on our Trans Maldivian Airways Malé – W Maldives flight before a wonderful five day stay at the W Maldives.

My Thoughts on the Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge:

The Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge at Malé Noovilu Sea Plane Terminal meets all the needs for a space to relax, prior to a sea plane transfer to your luxury resort.

The lounge itself offers a solid range of snacks and sandwiches. Aside from being a dry lounge, everything on offer was fresh and appealing, which isn’t something that always happens in a transfer lounge. The lounge offered bright outdoor seating, which is where we comfortably relaxed prior to our transfer.

The only potential negative about flying Trans Maldivian Airways is that your hotel may have a light baggage allowance, which will find you getting stung with an excess overage charge.

---

If you’ve visited the Trans Maldivian Airways Coral Lounge, did you find the facility met your needs ?

---