History
Hummingbird Island Airways
The airline was founded in 1989 as Hummingbird Island Helicopters by pilot Kit Chambers. The company operated a strictly helicopter fleet of aircraft, moving tourists from the airport to a select number of island resorts. 1993 saw the establishment of Maldivian Air Taxi, a direct competitor offering more-preferred seaplane transfers. In order to revive the market, the company was rebranded as Hummingbird Island Airways in 1997, introducing Twin Otter seaplanes to its fleet. By 1999, the fleet had transitioned out all helicopters and had a seaplane-only lineup.
Trans Maldivian Airways
In the year 2000, Hummingbird Island was rebranded as Trans Maldivian Airways, under new management. In the next years, TMA acquired a fleet of 16 Twin Otter seaplanes, operating alongside Maldivian Air Taxi to provide transfer services to a growing number of tourist resorts in numerous atolls of the archipelago.
In 2006, TMA announced intentions to acquire 3 ATR 42 aircraft to begin operations to the domestic airports scattered in the atolls. [3] One of the ATR aircraft were brought to Male' in early 2007, and operations began to Gan in August. [4] In 2009, TMA announced that they were suspending all domestic operations due to losses, and the two ATR aircraft acquired were subsequently sold. [5]
2011 saw the first Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft brought to the TMA fleet, bringing the total fleet to 23.
Merger with Maldivian Air Taxi
Maldivian Air Taxi, established in 1993, was the sole competitor of TMA in the seaplane transfer industry. The company boasted the world's largest seaplane fleet. On February 4, 2013, the American equity fund Blackstone Group announced their buyout of the majority stake of both Trans Maldivian Airways and Maldivian Air Taxi, to form a new company with a combined fleet of 44 seaplanes, making it the largest seaplane fleet in the world by far. [2] [6] [7] The new company would retain the Trans Maldivian Airways brand name, with a new logo and livery integrating the colours of Maldivian Air Taxi.
The new merger company, with conjunction with the Maldives Transport Authority, has proposed to launch seaplane services to inhabited islands in the atolls, in addition to the currently served resort islands. [6]
Sold to Bain Capital
On December 18, 2017 – Bain Capital Private Equity announced that it has formed a consortium to acquire Trans Maldivian Airways ("TMA"), the world’s largest seaplane operator headquartered in the Maldives, from Blackstone Group. The Bain Capital-led consortium includes Shenzhen Tempus Global Business Services Holdings Ltd ("Tempus Global") (300178) and TBRJ Fund 1 L.P. Bain Capital, which is headquartered in the US, will own approximately 80% of TMA. [8]
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