Vice President Faial Naseem has stated that tourism and transportation are the basis of the Maldivian economy. He made the statement while speaking at the commencement ceremony of the new runway and the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal of Velana International Airport (VIA).
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Naseem 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 the airport's operations and services ran uninterrupted, despite the tremendous development project.
Furthermore, Vice President Naseem also spoke about the importance of the seaplane terminal. He said tourists board seaplanes to reach their destinations once they disembark from their international flights. He stated that the seaplane fleet makes approximately 600 flights a day and that the new seaplane terminal would drastically improve the operations and the customer experience.
Additionally, Vice President 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 atolls.
The first flight to land on the new runway was an Emirates aircraft which 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 3,400m long and 65m wide. The number of planes landing and departing the main international airport will increase from eight to 20 per hour following the opening of the new runway, which will resolve flight delays by reducing the time required to vacate the runway. In addition, the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal 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.