AIRPORT REVIEW The New MLE
But , even considering a year-on-year 3 % expansion of arrivals and departures ( as the airport experienced during the last few years saved COVID-plagued 2020 and 2021 ), by 2052 the airport will receive almost 12 million passengers per year .
Plans and projects already exist with different options for how to meet the traffic increases expected during the next few decades . The most fascinating one came from the Maldivian President himself , Mohamed Muizzu , at an event held in Malé last January . This plans foresees passenger demand to increase to up to 25 million and entails a complete transformation of the part of Huhlule Island , where the airport and seaport are built .
Under this project , the lagoon where seaplanes now take off and land would be land-filled and used for further apron surface and terminal facilities . The existing seaplane terminal would be transformed into a huge VIP terminal and a new seaplane facility would be built on a nearby island , now occupied by a tourist resort . There , hotels and restaurants would accommodate those passengers who need to spend a night in Malé waiting for their connecting flight . The new seaplane terminal and connecting facilities would be connected to the main passenger terminal by a monorail system running a few feet over the ocean . And another nearby island would be developed as a shopping and dining area for passengers who have shorter connecting times at MLE .
This visionary and futuristic project would relocate what could be intended as ‘ the other half of Malé Airport ’: the seaplane complex . In the Maldives , tourists with a reservation at one of the islands ’ 133 resorts reach their final destination either by fast boat or by seaplane , depending
10 The baggage retrieval area is going to feature belts three times longer than those in the old terminal . // MALDIVES AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED ( MACL )
11 Everything in the new terminal will be larger and brighter , including the check-in area . // MALDIVES AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED ( MACL )
12 The infrastructure has been designed to welcome 7.5 million passengers per year , so that will guarantee plenty of space for everyone , if compared to the old one . // MALDIVES AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED ( MACL )
13 The airport itself is a marvel of engineering as most of it has been built on land reclaimed from the sea . For its constrained spaces and its shape , MLE recalls the flight bridge of a military aircraft carrier ship . // MALDIVES AIRPORTS COMPANY LIMITED ( MACL )
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