Malé International Airport: The Landside

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

The Malé International Airport is the main international airport of the Republic of Maldives. It serves millions of passengers every year. This paper briefly provides some basic facts about the airport. Such information as facts about its terminals, its location, and its history, is supplied in this paper.

Main body

Location of the Airport, its Terminals

The Malé International Airport, which is also known as Velana International Airport, is situated on the Hulhulé Island (Velana International Airport n.d.). This island can be found in the North Malé Atoll, not far from the isle of Malé, the city on which serves as the capital of the Republic of Maldives (Velana International Airport n.d.).

On the whole, there are three terminals in the airport (Maldives Airport Co. n.d.). These terminals are called the Domestic Terminal, the International Terminal, and the Seaplane Terminal (Velana International Airport n.d.). It should be noted that the Seaplane Terminal provides access to the water aerodrome.

When it comes to the International Terminal, it should be noted that it consists of two floors. On the ground floor, there is the area for departure, the area for arriving passengers, and several restaurants. At the same time, on the first floor, one can find stores, restaurants, and waiting lounges (Airport Technology n.d.). There are numerous advantages in this terminal. For instance, there is an office of the Bank of Maldives, a lounge with satellite TV, Wi-Fi and Internet, and phones. There are also a number of souvenir shops, duty-free stores, a flower shop, and a drugstore. Finally, there is a medical emergency center that is open 24/7, a children’s playground, and a lost-and-found desk (Airport Technology n.d.).

As for the Domestic Terminal, it should be noted that it is much smaller than the International Terminal. It was created in 2004-2006 to serve for passengers that wish to travel inside the country, and to address the lack of space in the other terminals (Airport Technology n.d.). There are such advantages as jetty services and wheelchair services (Airport Technology n.d.). As for the disadvantages, the Domestic Terminal does not have as many various facilities as the International Terminal (Airport Technology n.d.).

Finally, the Seaplane Terminal serves customers who want to board seaplanes. It works as one of the largest world’s operators of seaplanes, and also provides speedboat access to the city of Malé and the resorts that are located nearby (Velana International Airport n.d.).

Other Buildings in the Airport, Surrounding Areas and Community

On the whole, the airport is located on an island, and takes up most of its territory. There is a single asphalt runway that is 3.2 kilometers (10,500 feet) long (World Aero Data n.d.). In addition, there is a water aerodrome along the island. It has four water runways; their length is approximately 1.2 km (3,900 feet), 1.1 km (3,600 feet), 1.0 km (3,280 feet), and 0.8 km (2,620 feet). The three terminals that are located on the island, and which were described above, permit passengers to get access to the planes (Airport Technology n.d.; World Aero Data n.d.). On the island, one can also find a hotel, several restaurants, a mosque, an Island Aviation Services Engineering office, and the Central Headquarters for the Maldives National Defense Force (Google Maps n.d.).

The local community consists of the population of the surrounding isles. The most closely located islands to the airport are the Hulhulé Island and the Malé Island. On the latter isle, the capital of the Republic of Maldives, the city of Malé, is to be found (Google Maps n.d.); it houses nearly 130,000 inhabitants.

Approach and Access to the Airport

As has been noted previously, the Malé International Airport is located on a separate island. The island is connected to another isle, Hulhulé Island, with a bridge called the Hulhulé Link Road (Google Maps n.d.). Therefore, it is accessible with ground transport from the Hulhulé Island. In addition, it is connected to Malé Island, which houses the capital of the Republic of Maldives, via ferry (Google Maps n.d.). Finally, it is possible to get to the airport using the speedboat and sea plane transfers (Velana International Airport n.d.).

Statistics About the Terminals

The International Terminal serves those passengers who desire to travel to the Republic of Maldives from foreign countries, and vice versa. This terminal was previously capable of accommodating nearly 350 passengers at the same time (Airport Technology n.d.). However, today, when the terminal was expanded to consist of two floors, it allows for accommodating over 1,000 customers at a time (Airport Technology n.d.). There are six gates in the terminal, as can be seen from the map (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: Map of the International Terminal

When it comes to the Domestic Terminal, it is important to observe that it can accommodate nearly 140 clients at a time (Airport Technology n.d.). It serves those individuals who wish to travel inside the Republic of Maldives, without going to or from a foreign country. Although it is known that the terminal has eight check-in counters for the passengers (Airport Technology n.d.), the information about the number of gates in this terminal was not found on the Internet.

Finally, the Seaplane Terminal serves provides services for passengers who wish to use seaplanes. The terminal provides access to seaplanes from such companies as Trans Maldivian Airways or Maldivian Air Taxi (Velana International Airport n.d.).

The Growth of the Airport

The Malé International Airport was first opened in 1966, and today it serves as the main international airport of the Republic of Maldives (Airport Technology n.d.). The airport has been growing since the day when it was opened, but major growth has taken place since the beginning of the 21st century. In particular, as has been noted, the International Terminal was only able to accommodate nearly 350 passengers at the same time previously; however, today it is capable of accommodating approximately 1,000 clients (Airport Technology n.d.). The Domestic Terminal was opened in 2006 to address the problem of the limited space in the airport, and to improve the security of the facility (Airport Technology n.d.). It allowed for handling nearly 140 clients at the same time, also increasing the capacity of the airport and signifying its growth (Airport Technology n.d.).

Due to the increasing demand on the services of the airport, it might be expected that it will grow further in the future (Airport Technology n.d.; Jameel 2012). However, such growth will be faced by a number of challenges. One of these challenges is related to the territorial constraints of the airport; it only has one landing runway, and there is simply no space on the islands where additional runways could be built.

Conclusion

On the whole, it should be stressed that the Malé International Airport plays the role of the key international airport of the Republic of Maldives. It serves a considerable number of passengers annually, and provides access to air flights both to domestic and international destinations.

Reference List

Airport Technology n.d., Male International Airport, 2017, Web.

Jameel, A 2012, There will be major changes to MACL: Nazim, Web.

Maldives Airport Co. n.d., Maldives Airports Company Limited, 2017, Web.

Velana International Airport n.d., Male Airport guide, 2017, Web.

World Aero Data n.d., Male intl, 2017, Web.

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