Male’ Maldives, 11th January 2023 – The runway at Velana International Airport (VIA) has set a new record with the first week of January 2023, with a total of 856 runway movements. This record includes 102 international flights, 114 domestic flights and 35 general aviation. Furthermore, MACL revealed the increase in runway movement was due to an increase in seaplane movement. As many as 605 seaplanes were operational at VIA till January 7th. The new record shows a positive start to 2023 for the tourism industry in regards to reaching its target for the year.
Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) said the record set on January 7th was 275.4% more than the runway movement record set by VIA on December 22nd 2022 – which was at 228 runway movements. Last year saw 104 international flights, 104 domestic flights and 20 general aviation trips.
The peak tourism season in the Maldives is from November to March every year. During this time, a large number of tourists visit the destination. So far, a total of 42,404 tourists have visited the Maldives in 2023.
As the country’s main airport is gaining momentum due to the peak season, a number of changes have been made to the services of VIA to ensure that the airport services continue without any hassles. Furthermore, the airport is expected to get busier with additional airlines announcing operations to Maldives, such as China Eastern Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines. To ensure smooth services, 7 counters have been added for departure and 11 for arrival. Maldives Immigration has also increased immigration counters.
