Maldives Airports Company Ltd MACL says it has today begun using the newly constructed runway at Velaana International Airport.
The Company said in a tweet that to gain operational efficiency, it has started the interim use of the new runway as a parallel taxiway.
MACL said that with this change, it can accommodate 16 aircraft per hour.
Previously it had been able to host just 8 aircraft per hour which meant that several aircraft had to hover in the air before the runway is cleared for landing.
More than 30 international airlines and domestic airlines are operating flights to Velaana International Airport and all have been using the same runway.
The construction of the new runway began under the previous administration which had started a 1 billion dollar project to renovate VIA.
The runway that stretches to 3,400 meters had cost 373 million dollars.
