Male’ Velana International Airport’s new international passenger terminal is scheduled to open on 26 July coinciding with the country’s 60th Independence Day celebrations. The new terminal is a significant upgrade, designed to enhance capacity and service quality to accommodate up to 7.5 million passengers annually. This represents a major milestone for the nation’s vital international gateway, reinforcing the Maldives status and its continued growth as a leading global tourist destination.
The current terminal was designed to accommodate just one million passengers per year, while the number of tourists arriving in the country has surpassed over 2 million since 2024. The Maldives welcomed its one millionth tourist in June and is on track to reach its 2 millionth visitor by December this year- a testament to the country’s remarkable tourism growth and continued commitment to world-class infrastructure.
Covering more than 78,000 square meters, the landmark project was originally awarded to Saudi Binladin Group in 2016 and subsequently subcontracted to China Harbour Engineering Company. The total project cost including recent upgrades and advanced equipment stands at approximately USD 600 million. Incorporating the latest technology and modern features, the new terminal will have 12 aerobridges and state-of-the-art baggage handling systems, including 38 immigration passport control desks as well as 40 passenger check in counters to deliver seamless travel experience to visitors. The new facility has an installed capacity to handle up to 8,000 passengers per day.
MALDIVES BOASTS THE WORLD’S BUSIEST SEAPLANE TERMINAL
Seaplanes have long held a unique place in aviation due to their ability to operate on both land and water. This versatility makes them invaluable for reaching remote areas of the world, including isolated islands in archipelagos and inland water bodies. With its scattered islands and vast ocean stretches, the Maldives’ geography makes it an ideal place for seaplane services.
Maldives geographical composition is such the archipelago’s 1,192 coral islands are spread over 90,000 square kilometres in the central Indian Ocean. It consists of 26 natural atolls lying in north to south direction up to 510 miles (820 km) reaching just below the equator. An estimated 450,000 people live in 188 islands, and yet another 175 uninhabited islands are exclusively developed by private investors as one island one resort concept. Robust inter-island air connectivity is essential for economic development and for sustaining the countries rapidly expanding tourism sector. Since Maldives is visited by over 2 million tourists annually, driving its multibillion tourism industry, seaplanes play vital role in ferrying visitors between Male Velana International Airport and far-flung resort properties across the archipelago. Wheel based commuter aircraft flying to the 19 domestic airports across the country, play a vital role in making the island nation’s air connectivity smoother while promoting trade and tourism.
The Maldives Velana International Airport’s three storey “Noovilu” Seaplane Terminal located along the eastern shallow lagoon of the island is the home to the world’s largest fleet of float planes-or seaplanes as some may call them. The versatile de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter capable of carrying 18 passengers, remains the unchallenged workhorse of the Maldives lucrative distant resort islands air transfer business, achieving hugely unprecedented record-breaking daily flight movements.
As of January 2024, the world’s largest commercial seaplane operator Trans Maldivian Airways-TMA operated a fleet of 67 DHC-6 Twin Otters from VIA’s Noovilu Seaplane Terminal. Together with the national carrier Maldivian’s seaplane division and the private domestic carrier Manta Air, the Twin Otters fleet strength at Velana International Airport’s dedicated seaplane terminal has reached well over 95 aircraft.
In the Maldives, all arriving tourists at Velana International Airport are typically transferred to their respective resorts via seaplanes, speed boats or a combination of wheel based domestic flights, then moved by speed boats depending on resort island’s location. All transfers within Male Atoll are carried out by speed boats as the use of seaplanes is financially unviable. Currently there are 20 airports in the archipelago including Male International Airport.
Trans Maldivian carries well over one million passengers annually- meaning onward transfers to resort islands, as well as departing passengers from the resorts to Velana International Airport Seaplane Terminal. A dedicated fleet of Trans Maldivian buses ensure smooth passenger transfers between the two terminals. As of 31st December 2020, Trans Maldivian employed over one thousand staff including 200 seaplane pilots and 150 cabin crew, as well as a team of well qualified aircraft engineers. These employees come from over 25 different countries.
Interestingly Velana International Airport achieved a new milestone in daily aircraft movements with a record-breaking 925 aircraft movements recorded in January 2024, as reported by the Maldives Airports Company Limited. Aircraft movement generally refers to the take-off or landing of an aircraft at an airport or a water drome -meaning seaplane base. On this day alone, the airport recorded 104 international flight movements, 116 domestic movements between airports in the atolls, 672 seaplane movements as well as 33 private executive jet operations.
MALDIVES INCREDIBLE DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL AIR CONNECTIVITY
Maldives discovered the marvels and potential of tourism in 1972 with the modest opening of the country’s first tourist resorts- Kurumba Village and Bandos Tourist Resort, setting in motion the wheel of change thus gradually ending its centuries of isolation from the rest of the world. It was a modest beginning under most challenging circumstances with just 1,000 tourists arriving during the year. Curiously Maldivians knew little or nothing about tourism and its future potential. The scope for private business enterprises were marginally low due to nonexistence of banks and international telecommunication links. At the time, the limited facilities at the small Hulhule Airport (current location Velana International Airport) could barely handle few dozen tourists who arrived on Air Ceylon fifty-seater Hawker Siddeley HS748 flights connecting through Colombo.
By the time Maldives completed 20 years of tourism in 1992 there were 66 operational tourist resorts in the country with twenty in Ari Atoll, which is the closest to Male Atoll. By then, the need to establish safe air transfers for tourists beyond Male Atoll had become apparent. In 1993 a British military helicopter turned businessman Kit (Christopher) Chambers’ Hummingbird Helicopters Company became the first domestic airline in the Maldives to begin providing the eagerly awaited “Safe Air Transfer Service” to tourists between Male International Airport to distant resorts using a fleet of four American built Sikorsky S-61 helicopters which could carry up to 30 passengers.
Four years into Hummingbird Helicopters operations, in November 1993 Danish entrepreneur Lars Erik Nielsen established Maldivian Air Taxi company with two de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Sea planes as a direct competitor to the cumbersome fuel guzzling helicopters. It was the beginning of the incredible story of the world’s largest seaplane operator Trans Maldivian Airways. In the year 2000 Maldivian Air Taxi with a fleet of 44 Twin Otter sea planes underwent structural changes by merging with a local air transfer company, thus opting to change its name to Trans Maldivian Airways. According to available information on other domestic operators, Vila Air (flyme) operates three ATR 72-600 to domestic airports. Manta Air’s seaplane fleet consists of 17 Twin Otter aircraft for resort transfer services according to aviation news sources. In addition to seaplanes the airline also utilises ATR 72-600 aircraft for domestic airports. Island Aviation Services, the parent company of national carrier Maldivian has a total of 25 aircraft, for both domestic and international routes. The airline also operates 11 seaplanes within its larger fleet. Besides the national also operates one Airbus A320 and a widebody Airbus A330-300 on international routes.
On 29th March 1978 President Ibrahim Nasir laid the foundation stone for the new Male International Airport project which would accommodate intercontinental widebody jetliners. Primary financiers of the project were Kuwaiti Fund, Abu Dhabi Fund, Saudi Fund as well as OPEC Fund. The airport construction project was undertaken by the International Airports Authority of India. The new airport was formally opened by President Maumoon Abdul Qayoom in November 1981. The first intercontinental widebody Trijet DC-10 arrived from Frankfurt Germany on 31st October 1981 with a full load of 350 tourists. It was a significant event, marking the first time many tourists arrived in the country without passing through Colombo.
The Maldives currently has a capacity of 63,250 tourist beds, across 1,275 operational tourist facilities in 175 tourist resorts, 900 guest houses operated on locally inhabited islands, 15 hotels mainly in Male and Hulhumale, as well as several live-aboard safari vessels.
Contributed by Ahmed Mohamed Email achmet_9844@hotmail.com
