Velana International Airport (VIA) yesterday began redeveloping its Taxiway Charlie.
A special ceremony was held at Hulhulé Island Hotel to kick off the redevelopment of one of the oldest infrastructures at the airport. Now used as a taxiway, Taxiway Charlie was the first runway used at the airport.
The project, which is named "Taxiway Charlie Rebuild," will modernise the 3,200 metre long runway as a parallel taxiway. The work is scheduled to be completed by mid-2027.
MACL's CEO and Managing Director Ibrahim Shareef Mohamed said the government attaches special priority to the airport's development. He also said MACL has been working with Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG), the company contracted to develop the taxiway, for over 10 years on various projects.
He highlighted that the company worked on developing the airport's Code-F runway, Noovilu seaplane terminal, VIP/CIP terminal, cargo terminal and fuel farm
Taxiway Charlie was heavily damaged during the 2004 tsunami. Although it was repaired over the years, Shareef said the need for redevelopment is necessary. He also highlighted that the reconstructed taxiway would be used as an emergency runway as well.
Li Weidong, chairman of BUCG, which is redeveloping the taxiway, said at the ceremony that during the decade of working with MACL, the relationship between the two companies has become more than just a contractor and client. Every BUCG project has been completed to the highest standards and a team of the company's most experienced engineers has been allocated for the project, he said.
MACL said the taxiway will provide better services to aircrafts and passengers and that it would reduce flight turn-around times and speed up operations.
Taxiway Charlie was the first runway at Velana International Airport. The runway was developed in 1981 to accommodate wide-body aircrafts, and has since been extended and repaired several times.
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