The airport is being built with tsunami-resilient infrastructure.
The Maldives is a tropical paradise with endless white beaches, crystal clear waters and stunning resorts.
Millions of travellers flock here every year seeking rest and recuperation, with 2023 seeing record arrivals, up 12 per cent on the year before. The trend has continued in 2024, with tourist arrivals up by 10 per cent compared to the same period last year.
This is good news for the country’s 550,000 citizens, the majority of whom rely on tourism for their income.
But behind the scenes of luxury resorts, they face another struggle: being on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
There’s no escaping the fact that rising sea levels are a very real existential threat to the Maldives. The country’s president raised the issue with the UN as far back as 1985 when he warned of the possible “death of a nation”.
So how is the island nation balancing the need for tourism income with the race to save their homelands?
Hosting the Maldives’ first international aviation conference
More than 150 delegates from all over the world gathered in the Maldives in July for the country’s first international aviation conference, the Air Service World Congress.
Held by Velana Airport and private island resort Kurumba Maldives, the event brought together a mix of international and regional airlines, tourism boards, airport authorities and aviation consultants.
Ibrahim Shareef Mohamed, CEO and Managing Director of Maldives Airports Company, which operates Velana International Airport, is excited about the prospects the event will bring to the country.
“It paves the way for more events that can boost both the tourism and airline industries. We cannot work alone. We need the partnership of airlines and tourism operators to benefit, altogether,” he says.
Velana airport expansion: A decade-long project coming into fruition
Velana announced it is nearing the completion of the first phase of its expansion project. It involves enhancing the commercial terminal, cargo services and the VIP/CIP terminal.
“The current terminal is built to service about 2,700 to 3,000 maximum. But we are servicing 12,000 passengers from a facility which is built to cater for 3,000. So when the new terminal comes out, the service levels will just jump,” Mohamed says.
This staggered opening of the upgraded facilities is expected to commence towards the end of the year, with a full reopening set for mid-2025.
Harrowing memories of the 2004 tsunami are a reminder of island’s climate vulnerability
Home to over 1,000 coral islands and more than 170 resorts, the Maldives is extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels and natural disasters.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a grim reminder of that. All but nine islands were affected, killing 82 and leaving a trail of destruction.
Velana Airport did not escape the waves, destroying the base of the airport runway. Mohamed himself is a survivor of the tsunami and says climate resilience is at the core of Maldivian belief.
“The memory of the tsunami is that almost everyone felt the fear. So we are very cognizant of the fact that climate change is real and we try to incorporate energy efficient, renewable energy and other techniques in our buildings, even to the extent that our designs address negative climate impacts,” he says.
For the airport, that means building a strong foundation for the runway, which includes fortifying the grounds of the landing strip.
“The seepage of water is an issue because from our experience, we know that if that is not addressed properly, the whole runway will collapse. And so we are incorporating resilient techniques,” Ibrahim says.
Velana Airport is also revving up its use of renewable energy. Mohamed revealed ambitious plans to convert 90 per cent of energy used at the airport to renewable sources within the next two years, mostly through solar energy.
In 2022, the Maldives was spending 50 per cent of its national budget on efforts to adapt to climate change, such as buildingsea walls to protect coral reefs.
This year President Mohamed Muizzu promised the low-lying nation will beat back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and building islands higher.
In a recent report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the authorities of failing to implement their own environmental regulations, saying reclamation projects were “often rushed” and lacked proper mitigation policies.
It gave the example of an airport on Kulhudhuffushi, where 70 per cent of the island’smangroves were “buried”, and a reclamation project at Addu which damaged the coral reefs fisherman depended on.
“The Maldives government has ignored or underminedenvironmental protection laws, increasing flooding risks and other harm to island communities,” HRW said.
Seaplanes taking off 24/7 is the future in the Maldives
Part of the expansion of Velana Airport is enhancing its seaplane terminal. A unique way to see the islands of the Maldives, this mode of transport currently is one of the most popular.
The airport currently sees up to 72 flights an hour for its operating hours of 6am to 6pm. Mohamed and his team are looking at ways to widen that window.
“We’ve begun discussions with several airport lighting companies from around the world on how we can install lights in the water in a safe and sustainable manner, so the seaplane runways can be lit at night,” he says.
