The main objective of the MOU is to revise the agreement between UK and Maldives on 20 January 1996, to designate British Airways as the authorized career between Maldives and UK and to provide more opportunities for the airlines of both countries.

The objective of MOU is to strengthen the aviation relations between two countries and to encourage more flights between UK and Maldives. British Airways would start operations during the last week of October but as you know it is not a good time economically and financially. This may result in the arrival of other airlines as well.

The main points of the MOUs were unrestricted amounts of flights to operate between Male and airports other than Gatwick and Heathrow, while operating 7 flights from Heathrow and Gatwick per week. The agreement would also allow the airlines designated by the Maldives to obtain 2 points in Europe and South Asia and one point in gulf region as fifth freedom intermediate points and 2 points in Europe as fifth freedom beyond points, and to allow the airlines designated by the UK to obtain 2 points in Europe and South Asia and one point in gulf region as fifth freedom intermediate points 2 points in Europe as fifth freedom beyond points, and to designate British Airways as the airline designated by UK to travel between Maldives and UK.

British Airlines would operate Boeing 777 flights three times a week from Gatwick to Male and first, business and economy class seats would be available in the flights.

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· Top Shop tycoon’s 55th is in Indian Ocean resort
· Guests travel 8,500km on private jets from Stansted

From toga parties with hired rock stars to delivering metre-high birthday cakes to rival executives, Sir Philip Green is fond of displaying his wealth with a flourish, but his latest grand gesture promises to be the most spectacular yet. The billionaire Top Shop boss will celebrate his 55th birthday by flying 100 of his closest friends in two private jets to the exclusive Maldives resort of Soneva Fushi, an eco-spa on a private Indian Ocean island.

The event is so wrapped in secrecy that even his guests have not been told their destination. But an employee at the resort on Kunfunadhoo confirmed yesterday that a party of around 100 was expected for the tycoon’s five-day bash.

Kate Moss, whose clothing range for Top Shop is due out on May 1, is expected to be among the guests, who have simply been told to “pack your shorts and be prepared for a long-haul flight”.

Sir Philip will celebrate his birthday on Thursday with a banquet by the beach. He flew 200 friends to Cyprus for his 50th birthday, where Rod Stewart and Tom Jones performed, and there was a toga party on the final evening at which the Bhs boss dressed as Nero.

The Maldives trip is typical of Sir Philip’s flamboyant personality and love of ostentation. He relishes the trappings that come with his billions - from the yacht and Learjet to the celebrity-studded parties. Two years ago, he spent £4m on his son’s bar mitzvah in the south of France, at which Beyoncé performed. For his 55th, George Michael and Ricky Martin have been tipped as possible entertainers.

But his latest extravaganza will leave a heavy carbon footprint; each of his guests will generate 1.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide on their 17,000km round trip.

The flights from Stansted to Male, capital of the Maldives, are expected to arrive on Wednesday morning. From Male, it is another half hour by seaplane to their destination. Soneva Fushi describes itself as a “true Robinson Crusoe experience” where visitors are invited to wander barefoot over the white sands of the uninhabited island. Part of a chain founded by Sonu Shivdasani, an Old Etonian who was at Oxford with David Cameron, and his Swedish wife Eva, a former model, its motto is “no news, no shoes”, though it does offer an internet cafe and meeting room for workaholics. Rates start at £600 a night and go up to £2,000 for a suite.

Staff appear to have been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.

General manager Rochelle Kilgariff said: “There’s a lot of talk around about it, but it’s nothing I know of.” However, another employee confirmed that Sir Philip’s party had booked for this week. “There are more or less 100 people coming. They will be staying here for four to five nights,” the employee said.

It is thought the birthday banquet will take place on a neighbouring island. Sir Philip yesterday declined to discuss the party, and has previously hinted it may take place on Barbados or Goa.

Richard Hyman, managing director of market research group Verdict, said: “Philip Green’s a very hard-nosed businessman but he also likes to have a good party. To his friends and family he’s a very generous guy. He’s a hard man, but he’s loyal to his friends.

“It does seem lavish, but when you’ve got £5bn, in the context of his wealth, it’s not really out of kilter. It wouldn’t surprise me if - as a proportion of his wealth - it’s less than an ordinary person would spend on their 55th birthday.”

The retail tycoon is expected to foot the bill for all of his guests, who are likely to include formula one boss Eddie Jordan, and Simon Cowell as well as Moss, whose deal to create an own-label collection for Top Shop is worth a reported £3m .

Sir Philip has disclosed that she came to him directly with the suggestion of a collaboration. “We ran into each other and she says, ‘I’m a Croydon girl and you’re a fella from Croydon - we should do business’,” he told the latest edition of Vogue, which showcases the Moss collection.

“I said, are you serious? Give me a call. So she said, ‘I don’t go to meetings,’ but about a week later her PA called and said ‘can Kate come and have lunch tomorrow?’”

Island getaway: what’s on offer

· Soneva Fushi is a 100-acre island covered in rich vegetation, part of the North Baa atoll. A 10-hour flight from Stansted followed by half an hour on a seaplane from Male, the Maldives’ capital

· It was the Maldives’ first luxury resort when it opened in 1995. The spa is still described as the best in the region.

· Rooms range from bungalows grouped in twos or threes, to secluded villas in the greenery. The new Jungle Reserve suite features a private gym and a treehouse from which guests can descend on a water slide into a private pool

· Highlights of the menu include sushi, fish salads, lobster pizzas. There is even an ice cream bar. Diners eat at tables in the sand and can choose from an extensive wine list

· Recreation includes windsurfing, cycling, volleyball, table tennis, boules and badminton. There is a library with CDs and DVDs, a gym and boardgames, plus child-minding services

· Rates from £600 to £2,000 a night

And as for the standard rooms here in Adaaran Club Rannalhi you can choose to stay in the resort’s two stories chalets that offer you a much more private and spacious stay. The facilities in these chalets include Terrace or Balcony, IDD phone facility with direct dialing, Flat Screen TV with Satellite channels, Mini Bar, King Size or Twin Beds and Spacious bathroom with hot/cold fresh water & shower cubicle.

And there are a lot of activities you can take part in during your stay here in Adaaran Club Rannalhi resort. You can go island hopping which is a great way to see the beauty the Maldives have to offer. You can even spend the day on an uninhabited island during your island hopping tour. Night fishing is also another exciting activity that can be carried out here in Adaaran Club Rannalhi resort. You will be able to have a relaxing fishing trip while enjoying the beautiful night skies while waiting for something to bite on your bait!

Another must try activity would be of course Diving. The Rannalhi Dive Shop & Diving School caters to everything you might need to dive or snorkel here in the Maldives. There are even diving courses leading to PADI certification in English, French, German, Italian and Russian offered here. And plus the Water Sports Centre here in Adaaran Club Rannalhi offers you the chance to take part in many other water sports.

It may be known as a tropical paradise, an archipelago of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. But the traditional image of the Maldives hides a dirty secret: the world’s biggest rubbish island.

A few miles and a short boat ride from the Maldivian capital, Malé, Thilafushi began life as a reclamation project in 1992. The artificial island was built to solve Malé’s refuse problem. But today, with more than 10,000 tourists a week in the Maldives adding their waste, the rubbish island now covers 50 hectares (124 acres).

So much is being deposited that the island is growing at a square metre a day. There are more than three dozen factories, a mosque and homes for 150 Bangladeshi migrants who sift through the mounds of refuse beneath palm-fringed streets.

Environmentalists say that more than 330 tonnes of rubbish is brought to Thilafushi a day. Most of it comes from Malé, which is one of the world’s most densely populated towns: 100,000 people cram into 2 square kilometres.

Brought on ships, the rubbish is taken onshore and sifted by hand. Some of the waste is incinerated but most is buried in landfill sites. There is, say environmental campaigners, also an alarming rise in batteries and electronic waste being dumped in Thilafushi’s lagoon.

“We are seeing used batteries, asbestos, lead and other potentially hazardous waste mixed with the municipal solid wastes being put into the water. Although it is a small fraction of the total, these wastes are a source of toxic heavy metals and it is an increasingly serious ecological and health problem in the Maldives,” said Ali Rilwan, an environmentalist in Malé.

Despite the growing crisis, Thilafushi remains largely hidden from view. Nobody goes there apart from workers.

Meanwhile, tourism has made the Maldives the richest country in South Asia in terms of GDP a head - which is around $4,500 (£3,100) - though that wealth is thinly spread.

However, almost everything has to be imported. Most tourists can only be catered for by bringing in thousands of tonnes of meat, vegetables and diesel oil every year.

All this produces what many say is an unsustainable amount of waste. Every tourist produces 3.5kg of rubbish and requires 500 litres of water a day.

The lack of space means the Maldives is now “exporting junk” to India. “Before, the ships that brought our vegetables from south India used to return empty, but now we are sending them crushed cans, metals, cardboard. They then sort them out and get cash for them,” said Rilwan.

Environment issues are a major political issue in the Maldives, not least because its 300,000 people face being the first to be submerged under rising sea levels caused by global warming.

Earlier this month the new president, Mohamed Nasheed, told the Guardian of his radical solution to save his people: put aside some of the Maldives’ tourism revenues to buy another homeland.

The rooms here are bungalows and they are designed to contemplate the natural beauty that the resort has to offer. They are different types of bungalows and they are namely Beach Oasis, Ocean Oasis, Seascape Escape and Ocean Heaven. There are about 78 guest rooms which feature spacious indoor and outdoor living areas with Bose sound system, 42in plasma screen TV and DVD, plunge pool, daybed, tropical outdoor shower and a barbecue for private dining. And if you want something more luxurious you should try out the Ocean Haven Bungalows.

And as for dining the restaurants available here Celsius, UMbar and Salt. The chefs here promise to deliver you with the best cuisine cooked from fresh produce from all over the world!

There is even a fitness centre here where you can work out at; it has state-of-the-art Technology gym cardio, strength and free-weight exercise facilities. And if you want to try out another sort of exercise like playing sports you can head to Energy where you can try out aqua aerobics, circuit training, pool games, beach games, billiards, table soccer or table tennis.   or if you just want to do something relaxing you could just sunbathe at the wet pool deck or try out the innovative Away Spa.

The president of the Maldives wants to buy a new home for all 300,000 of his people, to save them from rising sea levels. But where on earth could they go? Jon Henley explores the options

So what do you do if you are the newly elected president of a small, relatively impoverished country whose greatest claim to fame, besides arguably the finest beaches in the world, is the fact that it is slowly sinking into the sea? You lose no time reminding the world of that fact, obviously. And to underline the urgency of the problem, you reveal the startling news that you are seriously thinking about moving the whole nation somewhere else.

That at least is what Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Maldives, did this week. He aims to start setting aside a chunk of his country’s sizeable tourist revenue to set up a land-purchase fund. “We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own, so we have to buy land elsewhere. It’s an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome,” he told the Guardian on the eve of his inauguration. “We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades.”

It is an intriguing, if deeply depressing idea: the first nation on earth to be forced to abandon its homeland because of the impact of global warming and steadily rising sea levels. Nasheed is basically talking about relocating the Maldives’ 300,000-strong population to nearby India, or Sri Lanka or, possibly, Australia. But even if you accept the neccessity of such a grim scenario, is it actually feasible? Could an entire people simply move to a new country, set up home there and pick up their lives again as if nothing bar the unfortunate disappearance of their old base had actually happened?

The current consensus seems to be that it is not. “It would be very difficult for a state, as such, to move,” says Dr Gareth Price, head of the Asia programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. “There can be ad-hoc migration, of course, even of quite large numbers. But there are big jurisdictional issues here, issues of sovereignty. That said, it is a real problem, and one we’re going to have to get used to. Nasheed is saying to the rest of the world, we really have to think about this. We want to stay together, we don’t want to lose our culture, and this isn’t our fault.”

No one doubts the Maldives’ crisis is real. Made up of nearly 1,200 islands and atolls - 200 of them inhabited - in the Indian Ocean, it holds the record for the country with the lowest high point on earth: nowhere on the Maldives does the natural ground level exceed 2.3m. Most of its land mass, which totals roughly one-fifth of Greater London, is a great deal lower than that, averaging around 1.5m.

So, climate change will affect the Maldives more than most places. Sea levels in the area have risen by about 20cm in the past century, and the UN estimates that they will rise a further 58cm by 2100. The country and its capital, Male, were inundated by unusually high tides in 1987 that caused millions of dollars worth of damage. The Asian tsunami of Christmas Eve 2004 was even more devastating. The wave that struck the Maldives was barely a metre high, but it killed 82 people, displaced 12,000 more and inflicted $375m (£240m) of damage (including $100m to the exclusive beachside resorts).

Tourists may be vital to the Maldives’ economy, but they are all but ignorant of its problems. The country is known as one of the world’s most upmarket destinations, its luxurious beachside bungalows proving particularly popular with honeymooning couples. Nearly 90 otherwise uninhabited islands have been turned into resorts that pull in more than 600,000 mostly European visitors each year. But while the average visitor apparently spends around $300 a day, they will rarely come into contact with local Maldivians, transported to their atoll by speedboat or small plane, and never stepping off it except for the odd day cruise.

This industry, though, accounts directly for maybe one-third of the Maldives’ GDP and at least 60% of its foreign exchange. Import duties and tourism-related taxes generate more than 90% of the government’s income; there is precious little other economic activity on the islands except for fishing. Few of those visitors are going to want to keep on coming once their accommodation risks slipping, at any moment, beneath the waves.

The Maldives has been working for some time on one possible solution: constructing a new island, Hulu Male, or New Male, to which it hopes to be able to transfer the populations of some of its lowest-lying atolls and, eventually, the capital, currently one of the most densely populated towns in the world. “They’ve been dredging the waters around the existing island to raise it to above the 2.1m-mark,” says Saleemul Huq, head of the climate-change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development. Some of the smallest inhabited atolls, Huq says, “are thinking in terms of relocation”, but only, at this stage, within the archipelago.

Longer term, though, “if the measures we are taking to counter global warming do not prove sufficient, then it may well be that people will have to be moved further afield.” Such eventualities are being discussed already, Huq says, with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change providing an initial forum to talk through the “adaptation” of the most vulnerable countries. The island of Tuvalu, for example, is in talks with Australia about much the same kind of idea.

“But it’s plain,” Huq adds, “that the relocation of entire populations is a source of major potential conflict.” The Maldivian president mentioned India, Sri Lanka or Australia as possible hosts for his island people. In the case of the first two, at least, cultural differences for Maldivians would be minimal (many islanders already work there, and wealthy Maldivians have been buying themselves homes in Sri Lanka for years). Amid India’s 1.13bn people, 300,000 Maldivians would not be a lot. But quite apart from the human cost of uprooting them, the international legal system is simply not up to the job.

“There isn’t really a big plot of land in either country which you could say is available,” says Price. “There’s a possible parallel with the case of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal - the US has volunteered to take 60,000 of them. But that is a group of people, not a nation. And it’s hard to see what the Maldivians would do wherever they were to go: all they have is tourism and fishing. If they have money, I suppose somewhere in Africa might volunteer - maybe a place like Zanzibar could work? But the real problems would be constitutional: a state cannot play host to another state. In the case of Sri Lanka at least, the whole cause of its civil war is precisely this kind of federal issue.”

Some experts see further legal problems down the line. The Inventory of Conflict and Environment, based at the American University in Washington DC, foresees potential for conflict within and beyond the Maldives increasing as sea levels around the country rise. “It is possible that the Maldives would seek to be compensated by polluting countries for the loss of their islands,” it suggests in an advisory paper.

“However, it is unclear whether the Maldives would seek new sovereign territory elsewhere. Additionally, it is unclear whether the Maldives would seek that territory in neighboring countries or elsewhere, such as in countries that contributed to the climate change in the first place like the United States or China. Will a country that is threatened or destroyed by global warming demand compensation for its loss? Would the Maldives try to claim Washington, DC - which is roughly the same size as the Maldives’ territory - as compensation for the United States’ role in contributing to global warming?”

Tourism has made the Maldivians by far the wealthiest people in South Asia, with a GDP per head of more than of $3,000. But the wealth is relative and the riches are thinly spread: in Guraidhoo, Kaafu atoll, nearly four years after the tsunami, familes still live in bare breeze-block huts, within eyesight of the luxurious Kandooma Island resort. “Longer term, the issue of these low-lying island nations could start to become very problematic indeed,” says Huq.

· This article was amended on Friday November 14 2008. Dr Gareth Price is the head of the Asia programme at Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. We called him Graham Price in the article above. This has been corrected.

According to World Tourism Organization (WTO) there was an 8 percent reduction in global tourism in the first 2 months (February and March) of 2009. Global economic downturn and the A1H1N1 influenza have had devastating impacts on global tourism industry with an anticipated reduction of 2-3 percent by the end of this year.

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Huvafen Fushi Maldives Resort

Huvafen Fushi Spa Resort is home to the world’s first underwater spa. This stunning island resort that offers 43 naturally-modern bungalows also has modern spa technology and a comforting architecture. With over six treatment rooms, this spa offers two double rooms and a separate relaxation area designed where you will be able to have a picturesque view of the surrounding sea life. This relaxation area is also spread over two floors with where you will be able to enjoy the Aroma infused steam room, sauna, ice room, high tech rain shower, boutique, over water yoga pavilion and gym.

This luxurious resort has over 43 water bungalows and they range from beach bungalows, deluxe beach bungalows, lagoon bungalow, ocean bungalow, beach pavilion and last but not least ocean pavilion. So you can choose to either have a beach style bungalow with a large outdoor living area or in lagoon style bungalow with a split-level layout. The Pavilions offer a dedicated 24-hour butler service.

Facilities in Huvafen Fushi

The Facilities here include Yoga Pavilion, Gymnasium,Scuba Diving Facilities, swimming pool, ‘The Lair’ which is actually a place where the Library/Television/Internet area is located,Extensive DVD and CD library, Full range of excursions which including sunset fishing and big game fishing. And as for food the cuisine available to you here doing your stay is truly exquisite. There are 3 restaurants, a bar and an underground wine cellar. Or if you want to have something more intimate you can choose to have the 24-hour dining room service so that you will be able to enjoy your food together with that special someone in your very own private bungalow.

Some of the things you can do at this luxury Maldives holiday resort

And as for activities you will be able to participate in exciting and great ones like Banana Rides, Beach Football,Beach Volleyball, Canoeing,Deep Sea Fishing, Diving, Gym, Sailing, Scuba Diving, Snorkeling,Spa Treatments, Tennis,Water Skiing and Windsurfing.

The airlines Assistant Director said the decision is to provide convenience of the traveling public with the objective of offering better and wider services. Now traveling on Maldivian has increased significantly.

Now Maldivian operates 14 flights to Trivandrum / Indian and 5 flights to Colombo / Sri Lanka daily. Flights to these countries were a huge success with demand increasing by the day, especially to India.

In order to cater for heavy passenger demand, Maldivian schedules extra flights when need arise. In this regard the airline recently operated additional flights to India during the recent school holidays

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