Airport ramps up capacity for peak tourist season
Seven more immigration counters will be set up at departure hall, so there will be a total of 18 counters.
Ahead of the peak tourist season, the country's main Velana International Airport (VIA) has ramped up its capacity.
Every year, during Christmas and New Year holidays, a large number of tourists come from Europe. With the peak season now started, the average number of tourists arriving in the Maldives daily has increased to 4,800.
Presidential spokesperson Miuvan Mohamed told reporters on Thursday that all the agencies have started working together to address the problems faced by tourists arriving in the Maldives due to a significant increase in the number of passengers during the tourist peak season. It will lead to a change, he said.
Going into the details, Miuvan said:
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Seven more immigration counters will be set up at departure hall, so there will be a total of 18 counters
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The number of immigration counters at arrival hall will be increased to 14
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80 tourist counters to be set up at airport to make it easier for passenger flow
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Six new X-ray machines will be installed and put to use next month
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Arrival baggage belt will be expanded to speed up access to luggage
"As the peak season begins, it will be easier for tourists arriving from the airport," Miuvan said.
In October, the airport's new runway was put into use. This has made landing and take-off easier and faster airport operations.
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The time taken to clear a flight has decreased from 15 to 3 minutes
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The number of aircraft landing has increased from eight to 21 per hour
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80% increase in airport's operational capacity
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With modern navigation system, it will be easier to land aircraft even during bad weather
As of Wednesday, the Maldives has attracted:
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1.4 million tourists
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This is an increase of 29.8% over the previous year
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Maldives has a tourism target of 1.6 million tourists this year; it is expected to be achieved by the second week of next month
