RACL signed with Dubai's Capital Wings, and Air Chateau DWC as a show of mutual interest in submitting a proposal to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation to potentially develop vertiports and droneports in the Maldives.
Regional Airports Company Limited (RACL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two Dubai firms, expressing mutual interest to develop a network of 100 vertiports and droneports in the Maldives for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts.
Managing Director of RACL Ahmed Mubeen said that the company expressed interest in the project to work in collaboration with two Dubai firms, and that this partnership will be a public private partnership between RACL and Dubai's Capital Wings, and Air Chateau DWC. Mubeen said both companies are well known in Dubai's aviation industry.
"We've only just expressed interest. After this, when proposal submission requests are made, we'll submit with those details," he said.
“This unique opportunity positions us as an ideal partner for investors in the aviation sector. We are pleased to establish this understanding with globally recognized firms like Wings Capital Management and Air Chateau," Mubeen told media, revealing plans to expand its operations from eight airports in the country to fifteen in the near future.
RACL clarified that the MoU is simply an expression of interest by all three parties in response to the Maldives' Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation's call for EOIs to provide helicopter services in the Maldives, including for tourism purposes.
According to news sources from Dubai, the collaborative partnership will "roll out a VVIP & HNI air taxi operations, commercial cargo and passenger operations with eVTOLs and advanced air mobility infrastructure across the Maldives under the “Project Elevate Maldives” enabling island air mobility for drones and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft operations."
These sources say that the vertiports and droneports will connect over 1,200 islands across the Maldives.
Local media outlet Mihaaru reports that along with the 100 hybrid vertiports which will feature Touch Down and Lift-Off (TLOF) areas, Final Approach and Take-Off (FATO) zones, safety zones, terminal waiting halls, and charging and fire-retardant infrastructure, an additional 500 droneports will also be developed under this proposed project dedicated to cargo operations, supporting first-, middle-, and last-mile logistics, all equipped with charging stations and fire-retardant systems.
The CEO of Wings Capital Management Nipuna Wahalathanthrige and Dr. Samir Mohamed, Chairman of Air Chateau, both highlighted the unique opportunity this project holds in terms of Maldives' rich tourism sector and potential for competitive growth.
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