Maldives's main airport operator Tuesday announced that 70 percent of the land reclamation for the new runway has been completed and revealed plans to commence the new runway project in the first quarter of the year.
The reclamation project for the development of Maldives main airport’s second runway was awarded to subcontractor United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s dredging firm Gulf Cobla.
Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) had awarded the development of INIA’s new runway to Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) of China.
"We are now planning out the project to build the runway. We are hoping to start the project during the first quarter of the year," MACL managing director Adil Moosa told reporters on Tuesday.
MACL stated that the reclamation will be completed within approximately five months, which will add around 30 percent or 62 hectares of land to the Velana International Airport (VIA).
The USD373 million (MVR 5.7 billion) project to develop a second runway in VIA aims to establish a new runway measuring 3,400 metres in length and 60 metres in width.
The project includes development of a new cargo terminal with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes and a fuel farm with a storage of 45 million litres.
Adil said the company had also kick-started efforts to relocate the air-taxi site which is part of the new runway project.
The government has launched a mega USD800 million project to expand the archipelago's main airport which also includes a new passenger terminal.
The project, estimated to cost around USD 350 million, was awarded last May to Saudi Arabia’s largest construction firm, Saudi Binladin Group. The new state-of-the-art terminal would be designed to cater for seven million passengers annually.
