After claiming that the new terminal at the Velana International Airport (VIA) will be completed and operational by September this year, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has now said that the new terminal will be completed by July next year.
This is the same date announced by the former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
But before and after taking office, the President insisted that the date set by the MDP government was too late and that the airport works should be completed before the start of the peak tourism season.
In October 2023, Muizzu spoke as the President-Elect at a ceremony held by the Maldives National Association of Construction Industry (MACI and stated that he could not accept a July 2025 deadline for the terminal.
"The information received in the transition phase shows that the airport will not be completed soon. The current prediction is it will be complete by July 2025. That is not acceptable to us. The economy is slowing down," he said.
"I will make a special committee directly in the President's Office with all the relevant stakeholders including senior officials. And I will chair the committee. The progress will be monitored daily and key decisions can be made immediately," Muizzu noted.
After taking office, the President said the airport would be completed within this year. He made the statement in an interview with state media PSM last March.
In the interview, the President said he hoped the airport would be completed and the terminal would be operational within this year.
"The airport work was going very slowly. They were the first and only group I met during the transition phase. We give so much priority to that," he said when asked about the pace of infrastructure development projects.
"Hopefully, by the end of this year, the terminal will be completed and operational," he added.
After months of claiming that the airport project would be fast-tracked, the President admitted that the airport would not be completed within this year while speaking at the opening ceremony of the ruling party's PNC House.
"Our airport was being built at a snail's pace. We all know that. However, the work is now going very fast," he said.
Although the President said the pace of the airport terminal work was accelerated, it is unclear on what basis the statement was made as the government now says the project will be completed by the date set by the previous government.
However, Muizzu said some of the aerobridges will be operational before the end of this year even if the terminal project is not fully completed. There are eight aerobridges, three of which will be completed and put into operation this year, he stated.
So it is expected that part of the terminal will be opened within this year even if the project is not completed.
The expansion project of Velana Airport, which cost more than a billion dollars, was started by the government of former President Abdulla Yameen. Although some parts of the project were completed, the terminal works were delayed.
Once the airport expansion project is completed, the airport's capacity will more than double and the facilities will be upgraded to serve 7.5 million passengers annually.
