Malé International Airport
| Malé International Airport | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | VRMM |
| IATA code | MLE |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 2 m (7 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 2.8 km northeast of Male |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1960/1966, reopened in 1981 |
| operator | Maldives Airports Company Ltd. (MACL) |
| Passengers | 5,032,557 (2016) |
| Air freight | 69,204 t (2016) |
| Flight movements |
97,679 (2016) |
| Start-and runway | |
| 18/36 | 3200 m × 45 m asphalt |
Malé International Airport (official name since January 1, 2017: Velana International Airport , also known as: Ibrahim Nasir International Airport ; IATA code: MLE , ICAO code : VRMM ) is the only airport next to Gan Airport currently operating the Maldives is served internationally. It is located on the island of Hulhulé , which has been connected to the nearby Maldivian capital Malé via the Sinamalé Bridge since August 30, 2018 . To the northeast of this is the largely artificially created island of Hulhumalé , which is connected to Hulhulé by a navigable dam about 1.6 km in length.
Like all airports in the Maldives, the airport is operated by Maldives Airports Company Ltd. (MACL) , which is subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
history
The first runway was put into operation in the Maldives, was one of plug plates made slopes. It was built as a field airfield in the time of the British Protectorate in the middle of the uninhabited and densely overgrown island of Hulhulé and had the dimensions 23 × 914 meters (75 × 3000 feet). On October 19, 1960 at 1:55 p.m., an airplane - a cargo plane belonging to the New Zealand Air Force - landed at the new airfield for the first time.
On April 27, 1964, the government of the Maldives decided to replace the old runway with a new, improved airfield. In May 1964, the then Interior Minister Vuzaarathul Dhaakhiliyya began mobilizing the population of Malé to build an asphalt runway . On May 1, 1964, 108 volunteers began to remove the old steel plates. The construction work was characterized by a kind of competition between the four districts of Malé, with the “Henveiru” district being the first to win the prize of 1000 Rufiyaa .
When the construction work was completed, the runway had grown to 45 × 2840 m and the airport was officially named Hulhule Airport . The then Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir opened the new airport on April 12, 1966.
Expansion and reopening
In 1976, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development commissioned a study on the expansion of the airport. In the same year, the German company Kocks Consult GmbH and the Frankfurt Airports Group (today Fraport AG ) were awarded the contract to plan the new construction of the airport. The basis of the planning was a feasibility study by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) from the same year.
The expansion of the airport was supported and financed by development funds from Kuwait , Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, OPEC , the governments of Great Britain and Australia, the United Nations and the ICAO.
On March 29, 1978, an initial agreement to expand the airport was signed with the International Airports Authority of India (IAAI). The agreement included the construction of the buildings and fuel tanks. The foundation stone for the new terminal building was laid on September 29, 1978 by then President Ibrahim Nasir.
In a second agreement, a contract was signed with the German company Standard Elektrik Lorenz (SEL, today Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland AG) on September 30, 1978 for the delivery and installation of the airport's telecommunications and navigation equipment.
The airport was reopened on November 11, 1981, after extensive expansions, by then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom . With the reopening, the name was officially changed from Hulhule Airport to Malé International Airport and a tower was put into operation for the first time . The runway is now 3200 m almost as long as the island itself. Since even large machines as from Europe land here, previously a "detour" Colombo ( Sri Lanka had to do). The first aircraft to officially land on the new runway was a DC-10 . It was a Condor charter flight that came directly from Germany.
On September 7, 1994 the foundation stone was laid for the new passenger terminal. With the construction of the new terminal, the handling capacity was increased from 350 to 1000 passengers per hour. The opening took place on May 12, 1996.
Maldives Airports Company Ltd., previously run as Maldives Airports Authority , leased the island of Hulhulé and the lagoon surrounding it for 50 years to expand and operate the airport. The lease was signed on August 14, 2000 by Finance Minister Mohamed Jaleel and Mohamed Ibrahim , the managing director of MACL.
Land was created by backfilling and sanding in 2000 to build the Hulhulé Island Hotel . The hotel is a joint venture between MACL and Maldives In-flight Catering . The 88-room hotel opened on August 14, 2000. In 2000 and 2001, a new area was created on the east side of Hulhulé for the operators of the seaplane fleets. The new airport tower was also built in the immediate vicinity of the seaplane bases.
On December 21, 2006, the new terminal for domestic connections, mainly to Gan , but also to Hanimaadhoo, Kaadedhdhoo and Kadhdhoo, opened. The domestic flights are mainly operated by Maldivian .
Since 2018, a new terminal building for seaplanes has been under construction for 40 million US dollars, which is to double the capacity.
Mohamed Amir is now the managing director of MACL. The airport is certified according to ISO 9001 .
Airlines and Destinations
There are the following direct connections from German-speaking countries in 2013: Condor and Lufthansa from Frankfurt am Main , Edelweiss Air from Zurich and Austrian Airlines from Vienna .
Almost all German airports offer sensible alternative variants with a one-time change in Colombo ( Etihad , SriLankan ), Muscat ( Oman Air ), Doha ( Qatar Airways ), Dubai ( Emirates ), Istanbul-Ataturk ( Turkish Airlines ) or Moscow-Sheremetyevo ( Aeroflot) ).
Others
The tourists who land on Hulhulé reach the other islands either by boat or with a seaplane operated by Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) or, until 2013, with Maldivian Air Taxi (MAT), which has since been integrated into the TMA.
The shipwreck of the Maldive Victory is located on the west side of the airport island , at the level of the southern first quarter of the runway . It lies upright, with the bow facing north, parallel to the reef at a depth of 35 m on a sandy bottom.
On the neighboring island of Hulhumalé there are some utilities for the airport.
Further development of the airport
Between the islands of Hulhulé with the Malé International Airport and Hulhumalé, an expansion of the area of the airport through land reclamation is being planned. The "airport island" would be enlarged by 305 hectares. With the enlargement of the airport island, however, the terminals of the seaplane companies would have to be relocated.
Picture gallery
Airport fire brigade from Malé International Airport
Hulhumalé, the artificial neighboring island (when approaching the airport)
Seaplanes at the base of Malé International Airport
TMA seaplane at the base, in the background the construction work for the new tower
Individual evidence
- ↑ 11.13 Passanger movement at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport by month, 2016 - Transport and Communication. (PDF; 347.03 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 19, 2017 (dhivehi ;, English ).
- ↑ 11.21 Cargo Handled at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport by month, 2016 - Transport and Communication. (PDF; 329.76 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 19, 2017 (dhivehi ;, English ).
- ↑ 11.17 Aircraft movement at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport by month, 2016 - Transport and Communication. (PDF; 344.83 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 19, 2017 (dhivehi ;, English ).
- ↑ Ahmed Naish: Maldives' main airport renamed 'Velana International Airport'. In: Maledives Independent. maldivesindependent.com, December 27, 2016, archived from the original on January 4, 2017 ; accessed on August 19, 2017 .
- ↑ "NOTAM A0503 / 16, from 1612311901 to PERM, Ibrahim Nasir International Airport will be renamed as Velana International Airport. Amend relevant AIP pages accordingly." in NOTAM List Series A, Republic of Maldives, Aeronautical Information Service, Air Traffic Services, Maldives Airport Company
- ↑ a b History of Hulhulé on the Male International Airport website (accessed March 3, 2015)
- ↑ a b Website of Male International Airport with data (English, accessed on December 31, 2008) ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b History of the expansion on the website of Male International Airport (English, accessed on December 31, 2008) ( Memento of the original from December 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e f Chronology of the airport on the website of Male International Airport (English, accessed on December 31, 2008) ( Memento of the original from April 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b History of MLE on the website of Male International Airport (English, accessed on December 31, 2008) ( Memento of the original from April 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Work commences on VIA's new seaplane terminal project. Hotelier Maldives, January 30, 2018.
- ↑ Saarcpublications with information on the MLE (English, accessed on February 25, 2009) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Map with expansion plans on Hulhumale.com (accessed January 18, 2009)
Web links
- Official website of the Malé International Airport (English)
- Data from MLE on the website World Aero Data (English)
- Aviation map for Velana International Airport on SkyVector.com