Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure has revealed it is seeking a party to operate Maafaru International Airport.
Previously, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Aishath Nahula had said final preparations were underway to bring the airport into operation in September.
Speaking to PSM News, an official from planning ministry said efforts are currently underway to seek a party to operate the airport and that negotiations with interested parties are ongoing. However, no further details nor the date of airport opening were shared by the official.
Maafaru International Airport is currently under the supervision of planning ministry. The airport which has a 2,200-metre-long and a 40-metre-wide runway was developed from a USD 60 million donation from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
Test flights landed at Maafaru in August last year after the construction of the runway was completed. The runway was also tested for international flights in October last year.
The government recently completed an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report following plans to land Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner, at Maafaru.