24 Apr Interview with Ibrahim Shareef Mohamed, CEO & Managing Director, Maldives Airport Company Ltd
Aviation is a central key pillar to The Maldives’ tourism industry, which makes up around 58% of the country’s GDP. What factors have allowed for the continued resilience of Maldives’ aviation sector and what impact has the recent record year in tourism had on the country’s airports?
The aviation industry is fueled by tourism; we are here to cater mainly to the tourism industry. We are the first point of contact for most tourists arriving in Maldives. We had a record number of passengers last year and the first two months of this year have surpassed last year’s arrival numbers. Up to Mar. 6 2024 we had 448,794 arrivals against 387,902 at the same date in 2023, an increase of nearly 17%. Right now, we are operating two or three times the capacity of the existing terminal, but with resources, as well as efforts from all the airport staff, we are able to manage these increased numbers delivering our services to a reasonable level.
Every year, along with our stakeholders, we prepare for what we call the Winter Super Peak, generally between Dec. 20 and Jan. 10 of the following year. During this peak our stakeholders, along with our staff, make extra efforts to cater to the increased numbers that raise the capacity.
MACL is the cornerstone of the nation’s aviation sector, with around 4000+ employees. The company recently held its MACL Take Off forum where it discussed the company’s new growth strategies. Can you give our readers an overview of the company’s role and responsibilities?
MACL’s main focus is the tourism sector. We develop new routes and attract new airlines in congruence with the needs of the tourism sector; we work very closely with the sector. We develop routes according to the bed capacity expectations of the tourism industry as a whole.
We have a new Code F runway to accommodate wide-body aircraft which opened on Oct. 6 2022. With its opening, we are reducing the number of idle hours of the airlines that come to the Maldives. To cater for it, we recently built a new fire station, which ensures the life saving capabilities required for airport operations as well as for the entire island of Hulhule. We have built a new seaplane terminal recently, which caters to the seaplane large number of tourists who come to the Maldives and take seaplanes to go to their hotels. Before, the seaplanes had a very small terminal with less docking space but with the new facility, we have removed all the congestion we had. When tired travelers come, we just want it to be a transition point that is congruent with the services that they will receive at the hotel.
We have a new VIP/CIP Terminal where passengers can go through Immigration Customs without any delays. A similar building will open in the second quarter of 2024 and we have recently opened a new cargo terminal with three times the capacity of the old one. We have a new fuel farm which has three times the capacity of Jet A-1 fuel storage than the old one and has a new marine jetty for receiving fuel too. In addition, we have a fuel hydrant system and a migration process is underway which will see refueling via refuelers to dispensers from the hydrant system. This will reduce the refueling time of especially long-haul flights, so the time they spend in the airport will be reduced by about an hour.
Velana International Airport hit a new record of 972 air traffic movements in March. What flagship projects is MACL currently working on to improve capacities at airports in the Maldives and what further expansions are we expecting to see in 2024 and beyond?
There is a new passenger terminal coming soon which will feature many new technologies such as the baggage handling system that eliminates the front-line scanning of the baggage; it will be scanned after you check in at the counter so the passengers will spend less time in check-in queues. We will have self-service check-in counters where passengers can check in at their convenience at home and just come and drop off the bag or come to our airport and do the self-check-ins. Our food and beverage area will be three times the size of what we have now, our duty-free commercial area will be four times as now. With the new terminal, we have 12 passenger boarding bridges where the airplanes will come and the passengers will go through the bridges which will remove a lot of inconvenience, especially when it’s rainy or very hot.
We aim to operationalize the new terminal, at least in part, by the end of the year. Our MACL teams are working together with our stakeholders to ensure our passengers can experience the improvement by the end of the year.
We are also talking with three renewable energy service providers to incorporate photovoltaic power production on the roof of the new passenger terminal and the new cargo terminal, which will reduce our carbon footprint significantly. We are also using more energy-efficient systems with energy-efficient machines.
The government has recognized the country’s need to rapidly digitize, with digital development being a main part of its recent strategic action plan. Are you using any more disruptive technologies to share with our readers?
We have multiple systems in an airport concerning passengers, cargo and airplanes. Right now, it is not completely integrated. Many systems work independently and data for decision-making has to be extracted manually and re-input into the system to make any sense. But with our new terminal, most of these systems will be integrated. It will allow the terminal staff to plan better; the time for decision-making will be very quick compared to what it is now.
We also hope to incorporate AI for future planning, because airports now have started using this for forecasting and resource planning. We have had a conversation with certain companies about incorporating AI.
The Maldives scores high on its Human Capital Index compared to the region. In August, MACL concluded its internship program for individuals with disabilities as part of its inclusion and diversity program. What is your assessment of the level of training and education in the Maldives’ aviation sector? How is MACL working with its partners to train and retain the future leaders of the local aviation industry?
MACL is one of the few companies that produces leaders in the industry. If you look at other aviation-related companies, a lot of our former colleagues work there. One reason is we have a good training mechanism within MACL. By definition, we are mandated to have a certain level of training facilities and capabilities within the company, for safety, security, firefighting and technology. Even now I’m in the process of increasing the facilities for training because our industry needs continuous training and it’s important to retrain everyone on every aspect of their work.
I work very closely with the Ministry of Higher Education to seek opportunities for staff as well as for new recruits. We also send our staff abroad for various training programs all the time. For our new hydrant system, 12 personnel from Fuel Services of MACL attended Bangalore Airport to participate in an OJT programme over two weeks which included hydrant operations and maintenance modules.
What are your current top personal priorities as the new CEO of Maldives Airports Company? What long-term vision do you see possible for the local aviation sector and what role will MACL play in the future?
My main aim is to have a better coordinated workforce, which creates opportunities to bring people into leadership roles. I also aim to have a more consultative approach in the management of the company. In an industry such as aviation, continuous collaboration is essential for the safety and security of the industry as a whole. A more horizontal management style will be incorporated into MACL. My objective is to make MACL and Velana Airport in particular, the number one regional airport in 15 years.
Most people are very comfortable being confined to what they know and are usually a bit reluctant to take risks. But to be a visionary, you have to think out of the box. The President of the Maldives is this person and he has a vision to move the seaplane terminal to another island close by and connect it via a monorail. The beauty of this is that seaplanes can only operate in daytime hours, so anyone on an early morning flight needs to get close to Velana Airport during the previous day, whereas the new seaplane relocation will also have accommodation facilities so people would come the afternoon before and check in and take a good night’s rest. When they check out, we will incorporate that checkout with the check-in of the airline so they will not go through the hassle of coming to the airport and check-in at the international terminal, they can check out from their hotel and go into the terminal last minute with their boarding pass and board the plane. It will be very unique. It can’t be recreated anywhere else.
Could there be any involvement here from American investors?
We welcome American investors to look into this if they want. The area that will be freed from the current seaplane operation will be converted into a domestic terminal and a jet terminal to service aircraft engines and maintenance facilities. It will also allow us to have additional storage. The cargo capacity will increase from the current size to four times the size because, with additional airlines, I foresee a transshipment market. We are relocating the fuel pump from this nearby island; all the fuel will be relocated. We are going to build a sort of duty free zone. We will have a transit hotel, shopping and recreational and rest facilities, all connected through a monorail.
Is there any last message you’d like to convey for the American investor or visitor coming to the Maldives?
Maldives is a 100% tax-free country for investors. MACL is also part of a bigger company called Maldives Industrial Duty-Free Zone where we license and operate duty-free zones in various parts of the Maldives. We are looking for investors to come and work with us. One of the objectives is to ensure food security where larger quantities will be imported in bulk and repacked and reexported outside the Maldives or imported into the Maldives.
We are also looking for investors to operate transshipment in the north of Maldives. One of the main reasons to have a transshipment facility in the north of Maldives is that it will reduce the ship’s journey time. Ships coming from the Suez Canal can just pass through the Maldives reducing about 150 miles of the estimated travel distance. They can carry more containers and lower fuel costs. There would be transshipment facilities, container facilities, fuel terminals, either crude or refined oil.