President Visits Site of Airport Development Project

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has paid a visit to Hulhulé see the progress of the airport development project initiated by the previous administration.

In a tweet posted after the visit, he mentioned that seeing the work done pleased him, and that he was also pleased with how well work had progressed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The previous administration’s airport development project had had an allocated budget of USD 800 million. USD 373 million from the budget had been spent on developing a modern-standard runway. A fuel farm, a seaplane terminal, and a new terminal had been planned.

The seaplane terminal and the fuel farm had already been completed.

The airport development project is being handled by BUCG, a Chinese company. Once the airport is completed, it would be able to handle 7 million passengers a year. The airport would have 40 gates, with 36 immigration counters, and 6 aero bridges. Work on the airport is expected to be completed in 2022.

The ruling party, MDP, had harshly criticized the airport development project. The party’s leader; Speaker of the Majlis, Mohamed Nasheed; had claimed that the airport could have been developed for free.