Gan Airport
| Gan International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | VRMG | ||
| IATA code | GAN | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 2 m (7 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 13 km southeast of Hithadhoo | ||
| Basic data | |||
| opening | 2007 (international) | ||
| operator | Maldives Airports Company Ltd. (MACL) | ||
| Passengers | 152,740 (2016) | ||
| Air freight | 322 t (2016) | ||
| Flight movements |
18,385 (2016) | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 10/28 | 2960 m × 45 m concrete | ||
The Gan International Airport ( IATA code : GAN , ICAO code : VRMG ) is the second largest airport of the Maldives .
Location and importance
Gan Airport is located at the southernmost point of the Maldives, a little south of the equator .
The Gan International Airport is near the airport Malé , the Hanimaadhoo Airport and the Maamigili Airport , the fourth international airport in the country. It was expanded from a regional to an international airport in order to take account of the increasing tourist traffic and to open up the south of the Maldives for tourism.
The airport is served by the Maldivian airlines Maldivian (formerly Island Aviation Services Ltd. ) and Trans Maldivian Airways on regular flights. The no longer existing Air Equator had its headquarters in Gan.
history
In 1941, a British Royal Navy base was built on the island during World War II , and later an airfield. During the war, a British tanker was shot at in the harbor by the German submarine U-183 .
Due to the loss of a number of stations in the Near and Middle East, the Royal Air Force took over the airfield and expanded the existing small runway to Royal Air Force Station Gan , RAF Gan for short , an important stopover for supply flights and relocations of fighter planes to the Far East .
Several missile tests with the Kookaburra missile were also carried out from there. In 1976 the base was given up.
The runway then served as a regional airport, but was ultimately expanded to become an international airport and opened in 2007. The Condor airline was the first to offer a direct flight from Germany.
Web links
- Official website ( Memento of February 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- Airport data from World Aero Data
- The British base at Gan
- Aeronautical map for Gan Island Airport on SkyVector.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ 11.20 Passanger movement at Gan International Airport by month, 2016 - Transport and Communication. (PDF; 327.53 KB) In: Statistical Yearbook of Maldives 2017. National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Treasury (statisticsmaldives.gov.mv), July 6, 2017, accessed on August 20, 2017 (dhivehi ;, English ).
- ↑ 11:22 am Cargo Handled at Gan International Airport by month, 2016 - Transport and Communication. (PDF; 335.08 KB) In: Statistical Yearbook of Maldives 2017. National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Treasury (statisticsmaldives.gov.mv), July 6, 2017, accessed on August 20, 2017 (dhivehi ;, English ).
- ↑ 11.18 Aircraft movement at Gan International Airport by month, 2016 - Transport and Communication. (PDF; 328.66 KB) In: Statistical Yearbook of Maldives 2017. National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Treasury (statisticsmaldives.gov.mv), July 6, 2017, accessed on August 20, 2017 (dhivehi ;, English ).