Villa Air slams MACL over seaplane terminal snub

Amidst the ongoing controversy over Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL)'s prickly seaplane terminal deal, Villa Air slammed them on Thursday as being "biased" for refusing to allocate a plot from the terminal to the local aviation firm.

A subsidiary of Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim's conglomerate Villa Group, Villa Air lodged its initial request at MACL on February 14, 2013, two years after the company debuted in the domestic aviation sector in 2011. Villa Air had sought a plot of 4,500 square metres from airport island Hulhule's east coast, to be leased to the company at the standard market rate.