Maldives main airport sees record movements since new runway
A total of 228 runway movements were recorded on Thursday.
Velana International Airport (VIA) witnessed the highest number of flight movements since the new runway came into use on October 6, according to Airports Company Limited (MACL).
The highest number of flights landed and departed on Thursday since MACL started using the new runway. A total of 228 runway movements were recorded on the same day, including:
-
104 international flight movements
-
104 domestic movements
-
20 movements of general aviation
Some of the advances that MACL has said will be achieved for operations with the new runway:
-
Time taken to clear a flight reduced from 15 minutes to 3 minutes
-
Number of aircraft landing in an hour to increase from 8 to 21
-
80% increase in the airport's operational capacity
-
With modern navigation system, it will be easier to aircraft to land and takeoff even during monsoon sonsoon
New runway project:
-
$150 million (MVR 2.3 billion) project
-
The project was carried out through loans from Exim Bank of China
-
The runway is 3,400 metres long and 60 metres wide
