Boeing 777 aircraft lands at Maafaru Airport in a historic first

A wide-body aircraft has landed at Maafaru International Airport on Tuesday, in a historic first.

The Boeing 777 landed at Maafaru International Airport as part of the certification process to evaluate the airport’s readiness to handle widebody aircrafts.

The certification process assessed:

• Safety of the runway for landing and take-offs
• Ground handling operations including refueling, passenger services and cargo handling
• Evaluation of navigation and air traffic control in line with international aviation standards

Maafaru International Airport is preparing is serve long-haul international flights. In this regard, any upgrades have been brought airport to ensure its ‘international’ stature.

This includes expanding the 2.2-kilometer runway to 2.8 kilometers in order to accommodate wide-body aircrafts such as Boeing 777s and A330s.

Apart from this, the apron’s capacity has been increased from 13 to 26.

Maafaru International Airport was inaugurated in 2019, during former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration. The airport’s international operations were temporarily halted to bring the aforesaid upgrades back in last year’s May.

Many high-end resorts are in operation near the airport. As such, the airport was initially developed with the intention of boosting tourism in the region. However, with the additional upgrades, the airport will serve as an important aviation hub in the Maldives with plans to accommodate direct flights from Europe, Middle East and Asia.