Haa Alifu Hoarafushi Airport has had its first test flight landed.

While the test flight landed at 9:10 a.m. this morning, high ranking officials of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation along with officials from government companies and MPs with other government officials were on board the plane.

A large number of Hoarafushi citizens gathered to watch the inaugural landing at the island’s airport.

The ceremony was attended by the MP for Hoarafushi constituency, Ahmed Saleem and the CEO of the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), Adam Azim alongside the members of the Hoarafushi Island Council.

Horafushi Airport was initially set to be developed in Haa Alifu Maafinolhu by the previous administration of Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. However, the project was moved to Hoarafushi by the current President, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as a presidential promise and contracted the project to the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) for MVR 198 million on 25 March 2019.

MTCC carried out the project in two phases where the first phase saw the land reclamation of 35 hectare of land and securing the beach with fences before developing a runway 1.2 kilometers long and 30 meters wide.

The second phase of the project entailed the Fire Building and the Passenger Terminal. The project was contracted on 13 September to be completed for 11 November.

Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation has previously said that the airport is set to open officially on 17 November.