{"id":66468,"date":"2025-07-26T23:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T18:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/?p=66468"},"modified":"2025-07-26T23:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T18:00:17","slug":"airlines-praise-new-terminal-as-velana-international-airport-begins-phased-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/66468\/","title":{"rendered":"Airlines Praise New Terminal as Velana International Airport Begins Phased Rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mal\u00e9 \u2013 July 26, 2025:<\/p>\n

Following the official inauguration of the new international terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA) today, international airline executives have hailed the facility as a game-changer for the Maldives’ aviation and tourism industries.<\/p>\n

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The opening ceremony, held on Independence Day, was attended by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, former presidents Mohamed Nasheed and Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, cabinet ministers, and foreign dignitaries. The terminal, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country\u2019s history, is now entering a phased operational rollout.<\/p>\n

Airlines Give Green Light<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top executives from airlines including Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and Malaysia Airlines took part in recent operational trials and praised the new facility\u2019s readiness and design.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAirlines have long awaited world-class infrastructure in the Maldives. This terminal delivers exactly that,\u201d said Munaz Ali of Etihad Airways.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Qatar Airways representative noted the terminal offers \u201ca strong first impression\u201d to millions of international visitors, while Malaysia Airlines described it as \u201cbeautiful and built for passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Operational Readiness<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new terminal covers 78,000 square metres and increases passenger capacity from 1.5 million to over 7 million annually. It includes:<\/p>\n

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Aerobridges<\/p>\n

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Smart immigration counters<\/p>\n

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Self check-in kiosks<\/p>\n

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Advanced baggage systems<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Air-conditioned corridors connecting to domestic and seaplane terminals<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The terminal has reached 90% operational readiness, according to officials, with the remaining finishing touches to retail, lounges, and premium services ongoing.<\/p>\n

Phased Transition Underway<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Phase 1A \u2013 July 26: Maldivian Airlines begins operations with A320 and A330 aircraft.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Phase 1B \u2013 August: Nine international airlines including Beond, Air Arabia, Oman Air, XiamenAir, FitsAir and others will shift to the new terminal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Phase 2 \u2013 September: All international flights will fully operate from the new terminal. Seaplane check-in will remain at the existing terminal until late September.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At least three aerobridges are operational from Day 1, with more expected to come online in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mal\u00e9 \u2013 July 26, 2025: Following the official inauguration of the new international terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA) today, international airline executives have hailed the facility as a game-changer for the Maldives’ aviation and tourism industries. The opening ceremony, held on Independence Day, was attended by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, former presidents Mohamed Nasheed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":66471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66468"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66478,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66468\/revisions\/66478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raajje24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}