New seaplane terminal at Velana International Airport (VIA) will begin operations next year, says Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

Speaking to the media after a tour of the development work being carried out at the country’s main airport on Saturday, MACL’s general manager of infrastructure development, Mohamed Solah, said that the terminal will begin operations in September 2019.

He said that the foundation work for the USD 50 million (MVR 771 million) project is complete, and that construction work is currently ongoing.

While Maldives has the world’s biggest seaplane fleet, Solah said that the new terminal will be “thrice” the size of the current one; with a separate building for maintenance work.

The new seaplane terminal is located at the land behind the Air Traffic Control Tower, and is being built by China’s Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG).