Tourism and transportation are the basis of the Maldives’ economy, says Vice President

Vice President Faial Naseem, on Wednesday morning, stated that tourism and transportation are the basis of the Maldivian economy. The Vice President made this remark while speaking at the commencement ceremony of Velana International Airport's (VIA) new runway and the 'Noovilu Seaplane Terminal'.

The Vice President emphasised the importance of VIA to the Maldivian people and described it as the main economic hub of the Maldives. He added that it was one of the state's most valuable assets.

In his speech, the Vice President noted that VIA was being developed in accordance with the master plan of the airport. He also highlighted some of the operational details of the new runway, fuel farm, passenger terminals, and seaplane terminal at the airport. He stated that the airport's operations and services ran uninterrupted, despite the tremendous development project.

The Vice President also spoke about the importance of the seaplane terminal. He said that, once the tourists disembark from their international flights, they board the seaplanes to reach their destinations. The Vice President stated that the Maldives’ seaplane fleet makes approximately 600 flights a day, and that the new seaplane terminal would drastically improve the operations and the customer experience.

Vice President Faisal Naseem emphasised the need for human development to be carried out in conjunction with airport development. He also elaborated on the government's initiatives to upgrade transport networks across the Maldives’ atolls.

The first flight to land on the new runway was an Emirates aircraft that landed at 7:20am. The aircraft was greeted with a water salute. With the operationalisation of the new runway, the old runway would be used as a taxiway.

The new runway at VIA is 3,400 metres long and 65 metres wide. With the opening of the new runway today, the number of planes landing and departing the main international airport will increase from eight to 20 per hour, which will resolve flight delays by reducing the time required to vacate the runway. In addition to the new runway, the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal, which opened today, is the largest seaplane terminal in the world. The construction of the seaplane terminal and the new runway was contracted to China's Beijing Urban Construction Group.