Maldives has held discussions with Saudi Arabia to accelerate the project to develop a new passenger terminal in Velana International Airport (VIA).
The discussions were held during the recent visit of a Maldivian delegation to Saudi Arabia. The delegation included Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed, Minister of Finance and Treasury Ahmed Munawar and Managing Director of Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) Adil Moosa and Ambassador of Maldives to Saudi Arabia Abdulla Hameed.
Discussions were held with the government of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Fund for Development to speed up the progress of the project, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed stated speaking with PSM News. In this regard, the Economic Minister revealed discussions also focused on completing the project according to schedule. The development of a new passenger terminal is one of the main infrastructure projects to be conducted in VIA, according to the Minister.
The expansion of VIA is the biggest infrastructure project carried out by the government of Maldives. The one billion dollar project was launched by the President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on April 6, 2016 and the new terminal was contracted to Saudi Bin Laden Group on May 22, 2016, as part of the expansion project of VIA.
An area of 78 thousand square feet will be developed as the new passenger terminal targeted to facilitate more passengers, according to MACL. The terminal when completed will have 40 departure gates, 38 immigration counters, aerobridges and 12 jetties.