Velana International Airport (VIA) has inaugurated the new seaplane terminal, 'Noovilu Seaplane Terminal'.

At a special ceremony held at VIA on Thursday, the new seaplane terminal was inaugurated by Vice President Faisal Naseem, Maldives Airports Company Limited’s (MACL) Chairman Mohamed Umar Manik and the Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives Wang Lixin.

The ceremony was also attended by Tourism Minister Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, Defense Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi and other senior government officials.

The ceremony saw VP Naseem highlighting the importance of the seaplane terminal.

As such, VP Naseem noted that, once the tourists disembark from their international flights, they board the seaplanes to reach their destinations.

Noting that the Maldives’ seaplane fleet makes approximately 600 flights a day, the Vice President stated that the new seaplane terminal would drastically improve the operations and the customer experience.

The Noovilu Seaplane Terminal is the largest seaplane terminal in the world. As such, the terminal measures 28,000 square meters, with a MRO Facility that measures 8,836 square meters.

The seaplane terminal has a VVIP section that measures 100 square meters.

Additionally, the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal has a total of 42 lounges, out which 40 lounges are leased to resorts. The two lounges that are not leased are operated by MACL. The 'Vilu" business lounge of MACL has 235 seats and the 'Neeru' lounge has 315 seats.

The value of the development project of the Noovilu Seaplane Terminal was USD 55 million.

The construction of the seaplane terminal was contracted to China's Beijing Urban Construction Group, during President Abdulla Yameen's tenure.