Maafaru International Airport Resumes International Operations
Maafaru International Airport has resumed its international operations with the extended run way that now stretches to 2850 metres. Just few days ahead of the start of this year’s peak tourism season the airport resumed its international services to enable private jets and commercial flights to cater to the luxury tourist hub in the heart of Noonu Atoll. The peak tourism starts in November and lasts till end of March. Countries in Europe and many other continents experience cold temperature during this period and people often want to take escape cold temperatures. Maldives is sunny all year round, exotic beaches complemented with bungalows on the beach or overwater makes it highly attractive for tourists.
Code named as VRDA the airport in Maafaru is well known for hosting private jets throughout the year. Rapid increase of demand by private jets have caused the airport to reach its capacity limitation several times and upgrades have been done multiple times. These upgrades were mainly in parking capacity. Earlier this year the airport introduced Jet Fuel service to facilitate refueling. With the recent extension of runway the Maafaru Airport (VRDA) is currently the second major gateway to the country.
Noonu Atoll is one of the well known locations for luxury tourism. There are 3 top luxury resorts located close to Maafaru airport. Cheval Blanc Randheli is a French brand popular among the ultra-rich holidaymakers visiting for world class vacations. Velaa Private Island is popular for hosting celebrities and private functions such as wedding ceremonies. Soneva Jani is one of the most featured Maldives hotels on international medias, the water villas comes with unique architecture that including a water slide.
Despite being a popular hotspot among the ultraluxury tourists there are affordable 5 star resorts and 4 star islands close to Maafaru. Sun Siyam Ifufushi offers 5 star accommodation with at least 4 different restaurants for dining, the resort contains more than 200 villas of which most are located by the beach and rest is scattered in the crystal clear lagoon. Iru Fushi was once managed by Hilton International. The island is owned by local businessman Mr Ahmed Siyam who the managing director of the Sun Siyam Group. The local hotel chain strives to offer similar class of service as the hotel did during the management of Hilton. Sun Siyam Iru Fushi offers luxury holidays at a reasonable price line.
Sun Siyam Group also owns another resort near Maafaru International Airport. Named as Siyam World it is more affordable 5 star resort. It boats a staggering 470 rooms with 18 categories. Compared to Iru Fushi the villas in general are smaller at Siyam World, hence they are more affordable as well. It seems Sun Siyam group has planed to offer a diverse portfolio of villas so that guests every guest can afford to experience Sun Siyam hospitality. The island is officially known as Dhigurah in Noonu Atoll, some other atolls also have islands of the same name as this is a common term on local Dhivehi language used for long islands. Siyan World measures 21 hectares of land, but 300 of the villas are located overwater. There is a house reef assessable from the island but not too close for inexperienced tourists stumble upon. There are 17 different food and beverage outlets in Siyam World to tune your tastebuds with your favourite cuisines or try out new experiences. Most of the villas come with 1 bedroom that is perfect for couples. For families there are options such as 3 bedroom villa, 2 bedroom villa, 4 bedroom villa, 6 bedroom palace.
Since Maafaru is a small airport the immigration and customs services are quick to get through. Velana International Airport at Male’ offers fast track service for VIP tourists that enable proceeding from flight to lounge by skipping the arrival terminal. But, VRDA being a small airport the fast track service is yet to be introduced in the future. Perhaps when the airport gets busier. Venala Airport (VRMM) handles about 95% of international tourist arrivals. The extended runway and improved facilities at VRDA may make the airport more demanding in the future and reduce traffic to VRMM.