Officials have confirmed that Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) operated over the past year without a Managing Director.
Previous MACL Managing Director Adil Moosa retired in November 2018 after 26 years of service. Following his retirement, management of the company fell to Deputy Chief Information Officer Moosa Solih, uncle to the incumbent president.
In June, the President's Office announced that the appointment of a Managing Director (MD) was being delayed as MACL's new management policy was being formulated.
The status of the aforementioned policy remains unknown.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated that MACL was too large to be managed by a single individual and attributed the company's size to the necessity of a new management policy.
MACL has recently come under fire concerning the new USD 55 million seaplane terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA), scheduled to open doors in May 2020.
The leaked special audit report, commissioned by Parliament's Public Finance Committee, stated that MACL is set to forgo annual income of over USD 41 million (MVR 632 million) should they proceed with the contested decision to hand over management of the new seaplane terminal to privately-owned Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA).
Moosa, MACL's Acting MD, revealed plans to transfer management of the terminal to MACL gradually over a period of three years, while the company builds its capacity and prepares for a complete take-over.
Until the handover of management, the terminal will continue to be privately operated by seaplane operators, with plots leased out separately to each operator. Currently, there are 3 seaplane operators: TMA, Island Aviation, and Manta Air. MACL currently charges USD 9 per square foot for the leased plots.
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