Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation has announced that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations on unmanned aircraft systems will be ready by the end of the year in order to issue drone operating approvals next year.
In her statement on Civil Aviation Day, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Nahula detailed the government’s work to expand aviation in the country with new activities. She said the government’s strategic policy is to connect the Maldives with an air transport network, adding that the country currently has 18 aerodromes, five of them international. She expressed confidence that the Maldives will achieve the government’s goal of establishing access to air transport within 30 minutes by sea from any populated centre of the country.
Additionally, Minister Nahula highlighted the importance of upgrading Velana International Airport (VIA). She noted that the new Code F runway has been opened while the previous runway is now being used as a parallel taxiway. She also noted the expanded apron space which has increased the number of aircraft that can be served in a given block of time, bringing ease into the operations. She expressed confidence that state of the art international passenger terminal will be operational next year.
Furthermore, Minister Nahula said the Maldives is developing its international connections and has signed an Air Services Agreement with Rwanda and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on air services with Kazakhstan this year. She said the new additions make it a total of 35 Air Services Agreements and 15 MoUs, which have resulted in 43 international airlines operating in the Maldives.
Highlighting the government’s policy to develop aviation with due regard to the environmental impact, Minister Nahula said the government has informed the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of its decision to voluntarily take part in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) from 2023, even though it is not mandatory on small nations. She added that the Maldives has offered its unwavering support, at the high-level meetings, to the ICAO environmental programmes combating climate change.