This administration does not intend to hand any airport operations to foreign parties, says Minister Mohamed Aslam.

The National Planning and Infrastructure Minister was presented to parliament for questioning on Monday, where he was asked why the operations of the Maafaru International Airport were not handed to its developers, by Manadhoo constituency MP Ahmed Haroon.

Responding to this, Aslam said that this administration does not intend to hand airport operations for foreign companies “based on past experiences.”

He claimed that there are some Maldivians that “fear” this, the minister said that this government has decided against doing so.

Aslam added that the government is working to implement this policy.

Maafaru Airport operations were assigned to the government owned Island Aviation.

While this is an international airport, Minister Aslam noted that domestic flights will make trips there as well.

Maafaru International Airport was initially set to open in September, but has been postponed to December 1.

Funded by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD, the airport development was contracted to Tuff Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.