While the Maldives is known for being a luxury vacation destination, the fun doesn’t really start until you get to your resort, as Velana International Airport (MLE) is kind of a mess.
The current terminal was designed to accommodate just one million passengers per year, while current passenger numbers are way more than that (between departures and arrivals, the airport currently sees roughly four million international travelers per year).
Fortunately that’s expected to change, as an impressive new terminal has been under construction for some time. There’s now a positive update — a few days ago I posed the question of when this new terminal would actually open, and a couple of days later, the government announced an official opening date.
In this post:
Velana International Airport’s new terminal plans
Male Airport is expected to get a new passenger terminal, which will fully replace the existing terminal. The new terminal is expected to have the capacity to handle over seven million passengers per year, representing a massive expansion over the existing facility. The terminal will be 78,000 square meters (around 840,000 square feet), located to the south of the existing facility.
It’s not just the increased capacity that’s exciting, but also the passenger experience. The existing terminal almost feels like a bus depot, and by comparison, the new terminal should be much more competitive. The new terminal will have actual contact gates (rather than exclusively using remote stands), more immigration counters, an updated baggage system, and more.
The new terminal is also expected to feature new lounges. I haven’t actually seen details on what those new lounges will look like, so does anyone happen to know which companies have been contracted for that?
It would be awesome if there were multiple lounges, and maybe even some airline-run ones (like for Emirates), but I’m not holding my breath. Going back a couple of years, Beond Airlines executives claimed the airline would have a dedicated lounge in the new terminal, so let’s see if that ends up being the case.
The new terminal will start to open July 26, 2025
Construction on the new terminal at Male Airport started all the way back in 2016, so the airport has been under construction for nearly a decade now. What’s so funny is that every time I travel through the Maldives, word on the street seems to be that the new terminal will be opening imminently, the same year.
When I visited the Maldives in early 2022, those working at the airport were all telling me the new terminal would open later in the year. When I visited the Maldives in the middle of 2024 (well, just to fly Beond Airlines), the common wisdom seemed to be that the terminal would be opening the same year.
For the first time ever, the government of the Maldives is giving an exact opening date. The current claim is that the new terminal will open on July 26, 2025, which is (probably not coincidentally) Maldives Independence Day.
This is expected to be a progressive opening, and the plan is for all existing operations to move to the new terminal within three months of that date, which would be by October 26, 2025 (also the start of the IATA winter travel season, which is peak season in the Maldives).
We’ll see how this all plays out. The timeline seems highly optimistic based on the current pace of things, but who knows. Interestingly, a couple of months ago there was a promotional video of the president touring the new terminal, and if you ask me, that doesn’t look like a terminal that’s just months from opening.
Don’t get me wrong, if construction were happening like it does in China, that would of course be totally possible. But given the pace at which this project has been moving (more Berlin Brandenburg than China), I remain a little skeptical.
Bottom line
A game changing new terminal is planned for Male’s Velana International Airport (MLE). This will massively expand the airport’s capacity, while also offering an improved passenger experience, with better lounges, contact gates, etc.
For the first time, we now have an official opening date for the new terminal, as it’s expected to commence operations on July 26, 2025, with all existing flights moved to the new terminal within three months, by late October 2025. Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath on that timeline, as it seems rather optimistic. Then again, it’s also the first time we’ve seen an exact date provided.
What do you make of Male Airport’s new terminal?
Dhaka airport is also opening their third terminal soon.
The existing airport at male is an embarassment lol
They will be temporarily importing more sla… I mean workers from neighboring countries to finish this …
Please, could you add the accent mark or call it Malé-Velana, I just keep reading it as male?
Let’s see if this comes first or the new Navi Mumbai (NMI) International Airport, which has been repeatedly delayed over the past few months after being just imminently close to launching operations. Another major under-construction Indian airport, Noida International Airport (DXN) near Delhi, has also been plagued by all these opening issues.
And that’s saying nothing of Terminal 2 at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which… I’ll be very surprised if that opens any time...
Let’s see if this comes first or the new Navi Mumbai (NMI) International Airport, which has been repeatedly delayed over the past few months after being just imminently close to launching operations. Another major under-construction Indian airport, Noida International Airport (DXN) near Delhi, has also been plagued by all these opening issues.
And that’s saying nothing of Terminal 2 at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), which… I’ll be very surprised if that opens any time before 2028 at the very earliest! Seems like a pretty common theme across South Asia… but MLE and CMB need it especially badly, as do KTM and DAC.
…. and not to mention LHR R3, I was only a sparkle in my farther’s eye when they started talking about that project …. :-)
Visualise new Indian airports. Dirty nationalist.
We flew into MLE 3 days ago. The superstructure of the new terminal looks ready to go. But you can see into the windows, and the interior isn't remotely close. It's still waaaaay unfinished. Maybe a soft opening in July with one working gate and no concessions or something? We'll see what happens!
We flew out of MLE mid of April and I suppose, 1/3 of the windows on the building were missing. From what I could see of the interior expansion, I highly doubt that the entire terminal will be operational in July. On the website of the President of the Maldives there was talk of an opening in November 25. I consider even that date to be amitious.
Or infinite delays announced at the last minute (anyone remember the infamous Berlin Brandenburg Airport?)