Government Tuesday announced the date to open Gan-Addu International Airport after completing a major project to expand the runway of the airport in the southern most Atoll of the archipelago.
The announcement was made by the airport operator at the ongoing World Travel Market in London.
Addu International Airport Company's general manager Ibthishama Ahmed Saeed said the airport would be open for operations on November 15, which has seen 960 meters of land reclaimed to accommodate the expanded runway.
The project worth an estimated USD45 million which began two years ago.
- Runway length increased by 3,400 meters
- Runway width increased by 60 meters
- Airport could only cater to Boeing 757 earlier
- Boeing 777 can now land at the airport
Ibthishama revealed that the company would look to expand the airport terminal once more revenue is generated from the revamp.
"We cannot say that the completion of the airport project would necessarily boost business. We must also increase bed capacity to compliment the revamp," she added.
According to Ibthishama several prominent airlines have already expressed interest to park aircrafts at the airport and the company also aims to establish a city hotel as part of the projects in the pipeline.
