Hulhule

Transport Minister Dr Ahmed Shamheed has said that there are ‘critical’ problems associated with Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), and that these problems need to be addressed immediately.

In an interview with Sun Online today, Dr Shamheed said that the airport runway is several years old and was not designed for large aircrafts. Landing of large aircrafts for a long period of time has damaged the runway, and problems are being encountered during landing.

“Without a runway, there is no airport. Airport is the runway strip. As you can see even in photos, this runway was build a long time ago without any engineering or design. Although some design was done in some areas, the entire airport strip is not uniform,” Dr Shamheed said. “We have had to close down the airport on several occasions due to water coming in.”

Dr Shamheed said that a new layer was put on the foundation of the runway in order to facilitate landing of large aircrafts. He doubted if the runway can be used much longer.

“The airport was designed for 707 aircrafts, which are quite small compared to today’s 747 aircrafts. The airport was not designed for 747 aircrafts, and there are several problems associated with the design. And then in the early 90s, we added a new layer on the foundation in order to facilitate landing of larger aircrafts. This means the base is still the same. It may last a few years by putting a layer on the foundation. I think this is the problem we are facing now,” the Minister said.

He said that the airport needs to be closed down for about one month in order to completely renovate the runway, but this is not an option. The only solution is to build a new runway.

“Complete renovation of the runway would take about one month. But most tourists arrive in Maldives by air. It will be like interrupting the whole economy. That is not an option. So the only solution is to build a new runway,” the Minister said.

Operation of the airport has been handed over the GMR for 25 years, and Dr Shamheed said that the airport development plan does not allow the construction of a new runway. He also said that the plan is not beneficial to Maldives.

“How the runway should be developed is not part of the agreement made with GMR. And the way the airport development plan is going, there is no possibility of constructing a new runway. A beautiful design can be made, but we have to consider its sustainability,” the Minister said.

He said that discussions are ongoing with GMR on the runway issue, and expert advice is also being obtained. He said that the problems associated with the airport should be considered on a national level.