AIRPORT REVIEW costing US $ 500 million , was completed : a new 11,150ft ( 3,400m ) runway ( realized by China ’ s Beijing Urban Construction Group ), parallel to the old one ( 18 / 36 ).
Less than a year later , in June 2019 , MLE opened a southwestern apron featuring six new wide-body parking positions . These included two Category F stands , suitable for the Airbus A380 and the future Boeing 777X . The VIP Terminal and the upgraded fuel farm were opened in March 2024 .
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“ We could have A380 operations by Emirates already , as the new runway and two parking stands are Category F ,” Mohamed said , “ though the Emirati carrier is continuing to fly here with the Boeing 777-300ER as many as five times per day because the existing terminal facilities could not cope with the A380 load of passengers . But from Dubai , they told us they will start to fly the superjumbo on at least two of their daily rotations as soon as the new terminal will be operational .”
6 The new terminal building as it appears looking from the seaplane terminal . A few jet bridges have been installed , and the airside facade is almost complete . The facility is slated to be operational sometime between the end of this year and the beginning of 2025 .
7 Inside , the new seaplane terminal atrium looks like a 5-star hotel .
8 Boat piers will be built outside the new terminal building to ease the transfer of travelers with reservations at resorts near Malè island . // MALDIVES AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED ( MACL )
9 The front side of the facility has been conceived as a shadowed area , ideal for ‘ meet and greet ’. // MALDIVES AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED ( MACL )
Just as passenger comfort had been poor for so many years landside , so had the aircraft space airside : the runway did not have a taxiway . Larger airplanes had to be pushed back on the active runway to start their engines , as the limited apron space offered no alternatives . The result was a very limited number of hourly movements , which could cause severe operational delays , particularly at peak times , in the late mornings and early afternoons , when the majority of airlines ( mainly from Europe ) wanted to land and depart .
“ We knew that the level of service and amenities we could offer in the terminal was inappropriate for the high-end tourists who visit the islands , but the issue had always been the funds to expand the existing facilities and build new ones ,” Mohamed told Airways . An early master plan devised in 2006 was dismissed as too expensive . But a 2013 plan , estimated at US $ 1.2 billion , called for a new runway , new fuel farm and fire station , an enlarged apron and cargo facilities , a VIP terminal , a new seaplane terminal , and , finally , a brand-new passenger terminal .
This time , the money was found in the form of government-to-government loans from China and Saudi Arabia , enabling the Maldivian Government to pay low interest . The contract was signed in 2016 . Two years later , the first part of the project ,
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20 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE JULY 2024 www . airwaysmag . com