The Office of the President-elect has stated that Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has agreed to provide the funds needed to complete the development of Velana International Airport (VIA). President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu aims to complete the development of the new VIA terminal next year and complete the entire project by 2026.
At a press conference, Spokesperson Mohamed Firuzul revealed that President-elect Dr. Mohamed Miuzzu has visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and held important meetings. This included securing funds from the ADFD for the VIA development project. He noted that the cost of the project has increased significantly due to delays and changes in the design, resulting in over USD79 million in additional funding needed for the project.
However, Firuzul said that the agreements made during his visit to the UAE will help President-elect Muizzu complete the project quickly. He detailed that the ADFD has assured that USD80 million will be provided for the VIA development project. He added that the government has now received all the funding needed to complete the project.
The VIA development project began in April 2016, with the development of the passenger terminal initially contracted to the Bin Laden Group of Saudi Arabia in May 2016. However, the project was put on hold due to different reasons before the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) renewed the contract with the Bin Laden Group in June 2019. The project, which involves the construction of a 78,000sqm terminal, costs USD357 million. The new terminal is designed to cater to seven million passengers per year, up from the current capacity of serving 1.5 million passengers.