An agreement has been finalised between the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure and the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) for the development of the Baa Thulhaadhoo Airport.

The previous Government had signed an agreement in 2023 to acquire land for the project; however, the initiative did not move forward. The current Government has since cancelled that arrangement and signed a new land acquisition agreement with MTCC. This agreement was concluded yesterday, with State Minister Hassan Rasheed signing on behalf of the Ministry and MTCC’s Deputy Managing Director Mohamed Jamsheed representing the company.

The signing for the airport development contract took place today during President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s official visit to all inhabited islands of the atoll. On this occasion, Minister Dr Abdulla Muththalib signed on behalf of the Ministry, while MTCC’s Managing Director Ahmed Saeed signed on behalf of the company.

The project is in line with the Administration’s policy to expand the domestic air transport network, aiming to ensure that a domestic airport is located within a maximum of half an hour from any inhabited island, resort or industrial area.

Under the terms of the agreement, MTCC will undertake the construction of Thulhaadhoo Airport at a cost of approximately MVR 570.26 million, with completion scheduled within 660 days.

According to the Ministry, the airport will be built to Code 3C standards and will feature a runway measuring 1,800 metres in length and 30 metres in width. The development will require the reclamation of 55.4 hectares of land, equivalent to 2.23 million cubic metres of sand, as well as the installation of roughly 2,800 metres of rock revetment and 1,677 metres of geo-bag revetment.