Cold good storage capacity at Velana International Airport (VIA) for air freighting, has been expanded.
VIA operator Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) confirmed an additional area for cold storage facility has been added expanding the 76 ton capacity storage to house a total of 266 ton.
In attempts to ease the air-freighting procedure for importers and exporters of various merchandise and goods, the international airport operator had signed with Singapore Electrical Testing Services (SETS), Singapore to install a cargo automated system at the cargo-clearance section of the airport; which had since been implemented.
"Before we had installed the cargo automated system there was no way for the local Customs authority or the customer to know what materials or items are in the consignment before the flight has landed. With this inclusion [cargo automated system] both the customer and Maldives Customs are able to identify the contents of such shipments arriving through these flights. This would ease the customers with their clearance procedures," Assistant Manager of MACL Ibrahim Haleem said.
He also added that the service is provided in real-time in cooperation with operating airlines to Maldives.
MACL has further assured a payment procedure or method would be integrated into the system in a near future to provide more ease of access for customers.
While a cargo automated system has been included and the cold storage area expanded, the airport is expected to witness a major expansion to its overall structure which includes a new international cargo terminal.
The construction of the new cargo terminal is currently underway managed by China Urban Construction Group (BUCG) at a project total of USD 373 million (equivalent to MVR 5.7 billion). The new cargo-terminal is reported to hold a total capacity of 12,000 metric tons.
