Velana International Airport (VIA) has recorded an eleven percent increase in air traffic movements at the airport during the first five months of 2018.
Managed and operated by Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL), VIA confirmed to local media that within the past five months, a total of 22,746 ACMs have been noted at VIA which is an 11% increase in comparison to the same period last year. In this duration, 2,036,406 million passengers arrived to the Maldives, which is an elevation of 9 percent compared to that of last year’s.
February 2018 recorded the highest increase, with a staggering 24 per cent increase in ACMs, a 15 per cent rise in passenger arrivals and a 17 per cent elevation in cargo tonnage when compared to that of last year.
The airport has seen a notable amount of developments within the past few years, the cost of which could increase up to more than USD 800 million.
The construction work of the new passenger terminal has been assigned to the Saudi Binladen Group. The development of a runway, 3,400 metres in width has been handed over to the Beijing Urban Construction group of China. The cost of this project is USD 373 million.
Addition, the construction of a cargo terminal and an oil reservoir is in progress. The government said a massive portion of these projects would be completed in 2018.
