Over 30% of the land reclamation work has been completed under the ongoing project to build a new runway at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), Maldives Airports Company Limited said on Monday.
The INIA expansion project is one of the mega-developmental projects undertaken by the Yameen administration.
Managing Director of MACL - Adil Moosa said that “30% of the 62 hectares of land to be reclaimed for the new runway has been completed, and two more dredgers will soon be employed to expedite the reclamation work.”
Adil said “sheet piling work will commence to protect the reclaimed area once the work is completed.”
The project, contracted to Dubai-based Gulf Cobla, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The seaplane terminal, located close to the new runway, would also be relocated to the ATC Tower area under the airport expansion project.
The new, 3,400-meter long and 65-meter wide, runway is being developed to the highest standards, capable of accommodating some of the biggest commercial aircraft.
With the completion of the new runway, the existing runway would be transformed into a taxiway. The project would also see the development of a cargo complex, with a capacity to store 120,000 tonnes of goods, and a fuel farm, with a storage capacity of 45 million liters.
The US$800 million airport development project is contracted to China-based Beijing Urban Construction Group.