88-453: Velana International Airport ( VIA ), also known as Malé-Velana International Airport ( Dhivehi : ވެލާނާ ބައިނަލްއަޤުވާމީ ވައިގެ ބަނދަރު ) ( IATA : MLE , ICAO : VRMM ) is the main international airport in the Maldives . It is located on Hulhulé Island in the southern Malé Atoll (or Kaafu Atoll ), nearby the capital island Malé . The airport is well connected with major airports around
176-602: A vaavu ( ވ ). This means that Thaana is one of the few alphabets not derived graphically from the original Semitic alphabet – unless the Indic numerals were (see Brahmi numerals ). The Thaana alphabet ( hā, shaviyani, nūnu, rā, bā , ...) does not follow the ancient order of the other Indic scripts (like Tamil) or the order of the Arabic alphabet. Thaana, like Arabic, is written right to left . It indicates vowels with diacritic marks derived from Arabic. Each letter must carry either
264-520: A noonu at the end of a word, it indicates a velar nasal. The Maldivian language has had its own script since very ancient times, most likely over two millennia, when Maldivian Buddhist monks translated and copied the Buddhist scriptures. It used to be written in the earlier form (Evēla) of the Dhives Akuru ("Dhivehi/Maldivian letters") which are written from left to right. Dhives Akuru were used in all of
352-581: A glottal stop. Gemination of nasals, however, is indicated by noonu + sukun preceding the nasal to be geminated. Maldivian is also written in " Malé Latin " (most commonly used, such as when romanising place names). IAST transliteration is also sometimes used, and also the Devanāgarī script (almost never used in Maldives, but used in Minicoy ) Towards the mid-1970s, during President Ibrahim Nasir 's tenure,
440-626: A member of the National Council for Dhivehi Language and Literature, a member of the Atolls Development Advisory board, and a member for the Maldives Youth council. After completing his education, he returned and stood for Parliament. In 1989, Waheed ran against Gayoom's brother-in-law, Ilyas Ibrahim . Despite this opposition, Waheed won the seat. It is believed and confirmed by other children of his mother Aishath Moosa that she
528-550: A more militant approach, Waheed returned to the UN, performing short-term assignments. During his time in UNICEF, Waheed was the head of UNICEF South Asia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Turkmenistan. After his career in the United Nations, Waheed returned to the Maldives once again to stand for the leadership of the newly formed Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Waheed lost
616-482: A news anchor, a teacher, a principle, a United Nations international civil servant with UNICEF , UNDP and UNESCO , and as member of the Maldivian Parliament. He assumed the office of president on 7 February 2012, following the resignation of the incumbent, Mohamed Nasheed . Initially, Nasheed claimed that a coup d'état had occurred, however these claims were proved to be false by an independent report from
704-508: A number of individuals, including Waheed's own brother, Naushad Waheed , accused Mohammed Waheed of complicity in the alleged coup. Waheed was also criticised both by Nasheeds party and several Human Rights organizations and by the international community for several human rights violations that occurred on the 8th of February following clashes between Nasheed's supporters and the Maldives Police. Waheed and his supporters, however, state that
792-980: A slight variation in speech.Such as the huvadhu accent which from islands from thinadhoo to gadhoo have differences even though it's the same accent The sound system of Maldivian is similar to that of Dravidian languages. Like other modern Indo-Aryan languages the Maldivian phonemic inventory shows an opposition of long and short vowels, of dental and retroflex consonants, and of single and geminate consonants but no aspirates. Nouns in Maldivian inflect for definiteness , number and case. Definiteness may be one of definite, indefinite or unspecified. Number may be singular or plural. Case may be one of nominative , dative , ablative , genitive , locative , instrumental or emphatic . The nominal system of Maldivian comprises nouns, pronouns, adjectives and numerals as parts of speech. Maldivian uses two numeral systems. Both of them are identical up to 30. After 30, however, one system places
880-464: A special session of the People's Majlis at Dharubaaruge. Waheed was inaugurated as the nation's first democratically elected vice president, the first to serve in the post when it was reinstated after over 50 years. On 7 February 2012, Waheed assumed the presidency following the disputed resignation of President Nasheed, who asserted that he was forced to resign at gunpoint in a coup d'état . A week later,
968-504: A subgroup within the modern Indo-Aryan languages, called Insular Indo-Aryan . However, they are not mutually intelligible. Maldivian and Sinhalese are descended from the Elu Prakrit of ancient and medieval Sri Lanka. These Prakrits were originally derived from Old Indo-Aryan vernaculars related to Vedic Sanskrit . Whereas formerly Maldivian was thought to be a descendant of Sinhalese, in 1969 Sinhalese philologist M. W. S. de Silva for
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#17328835249741056-487: A thorough investigation so as to prevent any vote rigging in the run off. On 24 September 2013 the Supreme Court injunction signed by the majority of four judges of the seven-judge bench asked the commission and relevant state institutions to delay the runoff until the court rules on the case filed by Jumhoory Party (JP) seeking annulment of the first round results alleging vote rigging. Waheed announced his withdrawal from
1144-625: A unity cabinet, but this offer was rejected by Nasheed's supporters. On 19 February, Waheed appointed Gayoom's daughter Dhunya Maumoon a State Minister, prompting a new round of criticism, but also appointed Shaheem Ali Saeed, who is "considered progressive". In the weeks following the alleged coup, Nasheed requested that the Commonwealth of Nations threaten the Maldives with expulsion unless new elections are held. The Commonwealth has supported Nasheed's call for early elections, calling on both Nasheed and Waheed to enter talks to arrange new polls before
1232-549: A vowel or a sukun , which indicates "no vowel". The only exception to this rule is noonu which, when written without a diacritic, indicates prenasalisation of a following stop . The vowels are written with diacritical signs called fili . There are five fili for short vowels (a, i, u, e, o), with the first three being identical to the Arabic vowel signs ( fatha, kasra and damma ). Long vowels (aa, ee, oo, ey, oa) are denoted by doubled fili , except oa, which
1320-602: A week. Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka is the most common direct stop out of the Maldives as it is served by SriLankan Airlines, Emirates , Etihad Airways , Flydubai and Gulf Air who operate a combined total of up to 7 flights daily between Sri Lanka and the Maldives . [REDACTED] Media related to Velana International Airport at Wikimedia Commons Dhivehi language Dhivehi or Divehi ( / d ɪ ˈ v eɪ h i / di- VAY -hee ; Dhivehi: ދިވެހި , IPA: [d̪iʋehi] ),
1408-541: Is a consistent script system that is well adapted to writing almost all languages of South Asia. However, this scheme lacks a few sounds used in Maldivian. ISO 15919 has been used by Xavier Romero-Frias to romanize Maldivian in his book The Maldive Islanders - A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom . The government reinstated the Thaana script shortly after President Maumoon took power in 1978. There
1496-400: Is a mark to indicate an abrupt stop (vowel deletion) on the sound of the letter on which it is placed. However, if it is on a shaviyani or alif and comes within the word, the following consonant is geminated; if it comes on a shaviyani or alif at the end of a word, it signifies the glottal stop; if it comes on a thaa , the sound is replaced by a y off-glide; if it comes on
1584-413: Is a modification of the short obofili . The letter alifu represents the glottal stop . It has three different purposes: It can act as a carrier for a vowel, that is, a word-initial vowel or the second part of a diphthong ; when it carries a sukun , it indicates gemination of the following consonant; and if alifu + sukun occurs at the end of a word, it indicates that the word ends in
1672-559: Is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the South Asian island country of Maldives and on Minicoy Island , Lakshadweep , a union territory of India . The Maldivian language has four notable dialects. The standard dialect is that of the capital city of Malé . The greatest dialectal variation exists in the southern atolls of Huvadhu , Addu and Fuvahmulah . Each of these atolls has its own distinct dialect often thought to be interconnected with each other while being widely different from
1760-540: Is an inscription on a coral stone, which is estimated to be from around the 6th-8th centuries. Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language of the Sinhalese-Maldivian subfamily. It developed in relative isolation from other languages until the 12th century. Since the 16th century, Maldivian has been written in a unique script called Thaana which is written from right to left , like Arabic (with which it shares several common diacritics for vowel sounds). The foundation of
1848-412: Is being developed at the south of the current international terminal and will have an area of over 78,000 square metres (839,585 sq ft). The current terminal was designed to serve 1 million passengers per year while the new terminal will have the capacity to serve 7.3 million passengers per year. Expected completion time of the new terminal is by 2025 and will cost about US$ 357 million. The project
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#17328835249741936-466: Is characterised by a derivational relationship between active, causative and involitive/intransitive verb forms. The word order in Maldivian is not as rigid as in English, though changes in the order of words in a sentence may convey subtle differences in meaning. To ask for some fish in a market, one uses the following words: mashah (to me) mas (fish) vikkaa (sell), which may be put in any of
2024-405: Is expected to process 120,000 tonnes of cargo per year. The new fuel farm area is three times larger than the current fuel farm, while the current fuel storage capacity of the entire airport is 15,000 metric tonnes, the fuel storage capacity at the airport would reach 45,000 metric tonne by the end of the project. Under this project, an 8.4-kilometre (5.2 mi) fuel hydrant has been installed under
2112-411: Is favoured as the second script. Maldivian is now written using a different script, called Taana or Thaana, written from right to left. This script is relatively recent. The literacy rate of the Maldives is very high (98%) compared to other South Asian countries. Since the 1960s English has become the medium of education in most schools although they still have Maldivian language classes, but Maldivian
2200-400: Is still the language used for the overall administration. Maldivian uses mainly the Thaana script for writing. It is an alphabet , with obligatory vowels derived from the vowel diacritics of the Arabic abjad . It is a largely phonemic script: With a few minor exceptions, spelling can be predicted from pronunciation, and pronunciation from spelling. The origins of Thaana are unique among
2288-533: Is takeoff only and runway SR is landing only due to proximities to flying restricted areas. The airport has three terminals: the International Terminal, the Domestic Terminal and the waterdrome Seaplane Terminal. The airport includes the corporate headquarters of Trans Maldivian Airways . As of October 2023, SriLankan Airlines is the largest foreign carrier into the Maldives with over 21 flights
2376-418: The 2013 election , having received only a little over 5% of the vote. Amid controversy over vote tampering and following a police investigation, the results of that election were later annulled by the Supreme Court of the Maldives, after which Waheed chose not to stand for re-election. Waheed is the oldest person to have been sworn into the office of President , having been sworn in at the age of 59. Waheed
2464-572: The United States . After completing his master's degree in education Planning in 1979, he returned home to the Maldives in order to begin working for the Ministry of Education. Subsequently, he completed his PhD in 1986, also at Stanford University , after which he remained in the United States for two more years due to the necessity of his newly born son to receive medical treatment. And although he had
2552-425: The union territory of Lakshadweep , India. The Maldivian language has multiple dialects due to the wide distribution of the islands, causing differences in pronunciation and vocabulary to develop during the centuries. The most divergent dialects of the language are to be found in the southern atolls, namely Huvadhu , Fuvahmulah and Addu . The other variants show less difference to the official dialect, including
2640-456: The 10th century CE. However, there is nothing in the history of these islands or Sinhalese chronicles, even in legendary form, that alludes to a migration of Sinhalese people which would result in such a connection. Maldives is completely absent from the pre-12th century records of Sri Lanka. A rare Maliku Thaana primer written in the Maliku dialect, published by Lakshadweep 's administration during
2728-452: The Commission of National Inquiry. Nasheed initially accepted this report "with reservations", but later refuted it in its entirety. His short tenure in office is regarded as one of the most turbulent periods in Maldivian history. Waheed was subjected to racial abuse during his presidency and was branded a traitor by the supporters of his former ally Mohamed Nasheed . Waheed was defeated in
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2816-478: The Commission’s findings are as follows: On 7 September 2013, Waheed stood as a candidate for the presidency of the Maldives. In his first independent bid for elected office, Waheed was routed in the four-way race which pitted him against three other candidates, amongst them, frontrunner and former president Mohamed Nasheed. Nasheed finished in first place with 45.45% of all valid ballots cast (95,224 votes). Nasheed
2904-496: The Hulhulé Airport on 9 October 1974. In May 1964, the government and the people of Malé worked together to construct a new asphalt runway. The four districts of Malé competed for the prize money of 1,000 rufiyaa , awarded to the fastest district. On the first day 108 volunteers were enlisted for the project and 1,563.08 rufiyaa was donated. The new runway was opened on 12 April 1966 at 16:00 by President Ibrahim Nasir . When
2992-601: The Language at Jamaaludheen School in Male' (the capital of the Maldives). President Waheed taught many students who would become highly influential members of Maldivian society both in the Government, as well as in the private sector. Among his students is the popular television comedian Yoosuf Rafeeu (commonly known as Yoosay), along with members of the government such as the former Speaker of
3080-527: The Maldives. Dhivehi is written in Thaana script. Dhivehi is a descendant of Elu Prakrit and is closely related to Sinhalese , but not mutually intelligible with it. Many languages have influenced the development of Dhivehi through the ages. They include Arabic , Hindi , Persian , Tamil , French , Portuguese , and English . The English words atoll (a ring of coral islands or reefs) and dhoni (a vessel for inter-atoll navigation) are anglicised forms of
3168-579: The Maldivian government introduced telex machines in the local administration. This was viewed as great progress, but the local Thaana script was deemed to be an obstacle because messages on the telex machines could only be written in the Latin script . Following this, in 1976 the government approved a new official Latin transliteration, Dhivehi Latin , which was quickly implemented by the administration. Booklets were printed and dispatched to all Atoll and Island Offices, as well as schools and merchant liners. This
3256-513: The Maldivian words atoḷu and dōni . Before European colonization of the Southern Hemisphere, it was the southernmost Indo-European language. The origin of the word "Divehi" is from older divu-vesi , meaning "island dwelling". Divu (from Sanskrit द्वीप dvīpa , 'island') later became ދޫ dū , which is currently present in many names of Maldivian islands, such as Hanimādū , Mīdū , and Dāndū . Vesi came from
3344-545: The Parliament, and current Foreign Minister, Abdulla Shahid . President Waheed also taught many senior civil servants such as the current Elections Commissioner and the Minister for Presidential Affairs Mohammed Hussein. During this time, President Waheed also helped develop the first English language curriculum in Maldivian schools. By September 1976, President Waheed was granted a full scholarship to attend Stanford University in
3432-450: The Sanskrit suffix -वासिन् -vāsin and later became ވެހި vehi . ބަސް bas (from Sanskrit भाषा bhāṣā ) means "language", so ދިވެހިބަސް dhivehi bas means "islanders' language". Wilhelm Geiger , a German linguist who undertook the first research on Maldivian linguistics in the early 20th century, also called the language Divehi . An h was added to
3520-434: The addition of ve , which is never used to end a sentence in spoken Maldivian. In using ve a strict word order also has to be maintained, but in spoken Maldivian word order is not considered to be very rigid. One of the very important things one has to take into account in written Maldivian which is not so important in spoken Maldivian is the ‘ sukun ’ on the letters alif and shaviyani . Sukun in general
3608-419: The airport to fuel aircraft. After the system is implemented, fuel trucks will no longer be needed to fuel aircraft, improving safety and shortening service time for the airlines. The new runway became operational by 6 October 2022, with a Boeing 777 operated by Emirates from Dubai , UAE , landing on the new runway, with the existing runway being converted into a permanent taxiway, as TMA finished moving to
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3696-445: The airport to the government, and MACL was reinstated as the operator. On 18 September 2018, the airport finished a new runway. It is 3,400 metres (11,155 ft) long and 60 metres (197 ft) wide, built to serve larger aircraft. The new runway was only used as a taxiway until 2022, when the old Trans Maldivian Airways seaplane terminal - too close to the new runway, and considered a potential hazard under international standards -
3784-513: The airport was rebranded as Velana International Airport, referring to the family house name of President Ibrahim Nasir . The rebranding is part of a strategic plan in aligning the airport with the economic vision of the Yameen administration . India has played a crucial role as a key supporter and financier of infrastructure initiatives in the Maldives, serving as a steadfast friend. India's Line of Credit amounting to $ 136.6 million significantly expedited
3872-601: The beginning of September. However, when the election date was announced in early October, GIP formed a coalition with the Maldivian Democratic Party, after being approached by the two other main opposition groups: the New Maldives Movement and the Jumhooree Party . Though Waheed was asked to become the vice presidential candidate for both the other parties, Gaumee Itthihaad chose to form an alliance with
3960-455: The building when they tried to physically assault Waheed during his speech. Waheed responded with a speech calling for national unity. Mohamed Nasheed initially claimed that a coup d'état had occurred, however these claims were proven false by an independent report from the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI). Nasheed initially accepted this report "with reservations", but later refuted it in its entirety. The Commission of National Inquiry
4048-494: The capacity to serve more than 6,000 tourists a day. With 28,000 square metres (301,389 sq ft) of floor space, the four-storey terminal building includes offices, arrival lobbies, and 42 lounges, most of which are dedicated for resorts aside from the MACL’s VIP and business lounges. The foundation work of the new passenger terminal being constructed at the airport was completed as of December 2019. The new passenger terminal
4136-506: The development of the language. Especially in the field of morphology, the amount of archaic features steadily increase from the north to the south. Within the three southernmost atolls (of the Maldives), the dialect of the Addu islands which form the southern tip of the whole archipelago is characterized by the highest degree of archaicity". However, the Huvadhu Atoll dialect is characterized by
4224-408: The dialect spoken in the northern atolls. The southern dialects are so distinct that those only speaking northern dialects cannot understand them. The ethnic endonym for the language, Divehi , is occasionally found in English as Dhivehi (spelled according to the locally used Malé Latin for the romanisation of the Maldivian language), which is the official spelling as well as the common usage in
4312-523: The dialects spoken in a few islands in Kolhumadulu Atoll and the now obsolete dialect once spoken in Giraavaru , which are hardly recognised and known. The letter Ṇaviyani (ޱ), which represented the retroflex n sound common to many Indic languages ( Gujarati , Hindi , etc.), was abolished from official documents in by Muhammad Amin in 1950. Ṇaviyani's former position in the Thaana alphabet, between
4400-732: The distinction between what is spoken and what is written. Every language that has a written form has this distinction to a greater or lesser degree, but many Asian languages, including Maldivian exhibit major differences between the two varieties of language. Malé dialect and Maliku dialect are the only dialects commonly used in writing. Spoken Maldivian, for instance, has twenty-seven consonants. In contrast, written or literary Maldivian includes some Arabic sounds as well. Though these sounds are also used in speaking, their phonetics are not strictly observed. This results in pronunciation as close as possible to spoken Maldivian. Regarding syntax, it may be said that every sentence in written Maldivian ends with
4488-426: The end of the year, MACL officially handed over the aerodrome licence of the airport to the newly formed GMR Malé International Airport Ltd (GMIAL). GMIAL announced that the development plans included reclaiming more land at the eastern end of the runway; where a new terminal is to be built. This terminal would consist of three separate bridged buildings. Plans for a separate cargo terminal were also announced. However,
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#17328835249744576-406: The first time proposed that Maldivian and Sinhalese had branched off from a common mother language. The following are some phonological features shared by Sinhala, or unique to Maldivian: The earliest official writings were on the lōmāfānu (copper-plate grants ) of the 12th and 13th centuries. Earlier inscriptions on coral stone have also been found. The oldest inscription found to date
4664-479: The following orders without a change in meaning: mashah to.me Mohamed Waheed Hassan Maniku Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik ( Dhivehi : ޑރ. މުޙައްމަދު ވަޙީދު ޙަސަން މަނިކު ; born 3 January 1953) is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to the office following the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed , under whom he served as Vice President . He had previously worked as
4752-441: The highest degree of archaicity. From Huvadhu Atoll the archaic features decrease toward the south and north. Fritz also adds that "the different classes of verb conjugation and nominal inflection are best preserved there, morphological simplifications and, as a consequence increasing from atoll to atoll towards north (in the Maldives)". Maldivian presents another aspect with which English speakers are not too familiar: diglossia ,
4840-487: The historical linguistic analysis of both Maldivian and Sinhalese was laid by Wilhelm Geiger (1856–1943). In Geiger's comparative study of Maldivian and Sinhalese, he assumes that Maldivian is a dialectal offspring of Sinhalese and therefore is a "daughter language" of Sinhalese. However, the material he collected was not sufficient to judge the "degree of relationship" of Maldivian and Sinhalese. Geiger concludes that Maldivian must have split from Sinhalese not earlier than
4928-455: The islands between the conversion to Islam and until the 18th century. These ancient Maldivian letters were also used in official correspondence with Addu Atoll until the early 20th century. Perhaps they were used in some isolated islands and rural communities until the 1960s, but the last remaining native user died in the 1990s. Today Maldivians rarely learn the Dhives Akuru alphabet, for Arabic
5016-552: The largest opposition party, Maldivian Democratic Party, only days before the deadline for the submission of the candidates names. Mohamed Nasheed who was elected as the presidential candidate of MDP chose Waheed as his running mate in the October 2008 presidential election . This was the first democratic election in the history of the country and ended Gayoom's 30-year reign. After they won the election, Nasheed and his vice presidential candidate, Waheed, were sworn in on 11 November 2008, in
5104-620: The law enforcement agencies’ fully backing me.’ Waheed left Maldives in 1992, and he took a job with UNICEF , working in Tanzania and then Bangladesh. He would later be transferred to the UN Headquarters in New York and made a senior advisor coordinating global policy for UNICEF . In 2001, he was transferred to UNICEF South Asia based in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he headed programs for the region. He
5192-435: The leadership election by a narrow margin. Waheed had given up his position in UNICEF. In 2006, after his work with MDP, he took up a consultancy position. In June 2008, Waheed returned to the Maldives and formed his own political party. Later on, most of his party members, including all the senior figures, reverted to MDP: Gaumee Itthihaad . Waheed was chosen as the presidential candidate of Gaumee Itthihaad Party (GIP) in
5280-509: The letters Gaafu and Seenu, is today occupied by the palatal nasal Ñaviyani (ޏ). It is still seen in reprints of traditional old books like the Boḍu Tarutību and official documents like the Rādavaḷi . It is also used by people of southern atolls when writing songs or poetry in their language variant. According to Sonja Fritz, "the dialects of Maldivian represent different diachronial stages in
5368-537: The name of the language— "Dhivehi"— in 1976, when the semi-official transliteration called Malé Latin was developed. Today the spelling with Dh has common and semi-official usage in the Maldives. Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhalese language of Sri Lanka . Maldivian represents the southernmost Indo-Aryan language, as well as the southernmost Indo-European language prior to European colonization. Maldivian and Sinhalese together constitute
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#17328835249745456-547: The nation. The other member [nominated by Nasheed] was not at all times willing or able to act independently and resigned the evening before this report was submitted and published... Without any justification, [he] created discord and mistrust in a community which desperately needs reconciliation.” The CoNI Report concluded that "in sum, the Commission concludes that there was no illegal coercion or intimidation nor any coup d’état. The Commission has received no evidence supporting or to substantiate these allegations." "In summary,
5544-523: The new apron was opened for flight operations. The ICAO fully compliant apron has three Code E MARS stands, two dedicated Code E stands and one dedicated Code C stand. On 6 October 2022, a new Seaplane Terminal was opened. The terminal was developed by China’s Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) at a cost of US$ 55 million. In the world’s largest seaplane operation, the new terminal and dock can accommodate more than 100 seaplanes and operate 300 daily flights on average rising to 600 during peak season with
5632-696: The new runway can accommodate 21 flights per hour. The airport is at an elevation of 6 feet (1.8 m) above mean sea level . It has a single asphalt runway designated 18/36 measuring 60 m × 3,400 m (200 ft × 11,150 ft). The adjacent waterdrome which serves the large seaplane operations at Velana has 4 water runways, designated NR/SL, NC/SC, NL/SR and E/W, measuring 60 m × 1,190 m (200 ft × 3,900 ft), 60 m × 1,100 m (200 ft × 3,610 ft), 60 m × 1,000 m (200 ft × 3,280 ft) and 60 m × 800 m (200 ft × 2,620 ft) respectively. Runway NL
5720-461: The new seaplane terminal by August 2022. The old runway was closed by a departing Turkish Airlines Airbus A330 bound for Istanbul , Turkey . The runway was developed by the BUCG at a cost of USD 452 million. With the operationalization of the new runway, the waiting time between landing flights will be decreased from 15 minutes to 3 minutes. The previous runway only accommodated 8 flights per hour, while
5808-495: The opportunity to remain in the United States, he elected to return home, giving up his job as a project manager of a technology firm, in San Francisco. On his return to Maldives from San Francisco (at the end of 1988), he became the director of educational services in the Ministry of Education. He was placed in charge of the Ministry for several months until a new Education Minister was appointed. During this time he also served as
5896-473: The project faced numerous delays. In late 2012, the new government of Maldives under the Waheed administration declared that the concession agreement was void ab initio and on 27 November 2012 gave GMIAL a deadline of seven days to 'evict the airport', a decision which drew mass protests from the government's opposition, as well as criticism from the government and media of India . On 7 December, GMR handed over
5984-514: The successful completion of the Male Airport project. In 2010, the Nasheed administration appointed IFC to run a bidding process for the privatisation of the airport. The bid was won by a consortium between GMR Group and Malaysia Airports who provided 1 billion rufiyaa as upfront fee to the government for the expansion and modernisation of the airport by 2014, and its operation for 25 years. By
6072-529: The time of Rajiv Gandhi 's rule, was reprinted by Spanish researcher Xavier Romero Frías in 2003. There is a holiday, the Dhivehi Language Day , which is celebrated in the Maldives on 14 April, the birthday of the writer Husain Salahuddin . Maldivian is spoken in the Maldives and a variation of it in Minicoy . Maldivian is the official language of the Maldives and a semi-official language in
6160-415: The tourism boom in the Maldives began in 1972, the country was in need of an international standard airport to transport international tourists to the resort islands. The International Airports Authority of India successfully completed the construction of Hulhule Airport, which was formally inaugurated, on 11 November 1981, under a new name of "Malé International Airport". Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL)
6248-435: The transfer of power was voluntary and constitutional, and have agreed to launch an independent review of the events surrounding Nasheed's resignation. BBC News reported that Waheed's subsequent appointment of several ministers associated with the former president Gayoom "raised eyebrows", and that "most believe other forces were at play" behind the protests that chased Nasheed from office. On 11 February, Waheed offered
6336-480: The unit numeral stem before the decade, for example, eh-thirees '31' ( lit. "one and thirty") while the other combines the stem of the decade with the unit numeral, for example, thirees-ekeh '31' ("thirty + one"). The latter system also has numerals multiplied by ten for decades 70, 80 and 90. The decade fas dholhas '60' ("five twelves"), comes from a much older duodecimal , or dozen-based, system which has nearly disappeared. The Maldivian verbal system
6424-435: The world's alphabets: The first nine letters (h–v) are derived from the Arabic numerals, whereas the next nine (m–d) were the local Indic numerals. (See Hindu–Arabic numerals .) The remaining letters for loanwords (t–z) and Arabic transliteration are derived from phonetically similar native consonants by means of diacritics, with the exception of y ( ޔ ), which is derived from combining an alifu ( އ ) and
6512-438: The world, mostly serving as the main gateway into the Maldives for tourists. It is managed financially and administratively by a state owned company known as Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL). The airport first started out as a small strip of land on the then inhabited island of Hulhulé . Hulhulé Airport was opened on 19 October 1960. The first runway built on Hulhulé Island was made of slotted steel sheets . This runway
6600-469: The year's end. Waheed said that early elections could be possible, but that "the conditions have to be right to ensure there will be free and fair elections". On 1 March 2012, Waheed was blocked from opening the Maldivian Parliament by Nasheed, who accused him of breaking a promise to set a date for a new election. On 19 March, he attempted to open parliament again and was once more blocked by Nasheed pro parliamentarians. Four opposition MPs were removed from
6688-407: Was 75 ft × 3,000 ft (23 m × 914 m). The first aircraft which landed at the airport was a Royal New Zealand Air Force Bristol Freighter , NZ5906, on 19 October 1960 at 13:55hrs. The first commercial flight was an Air Ceylon flight ( Avro 748 ; 4R-ACJ) landed on this runway was at 15:50hrs on 10 April 1962. The first aircraft owned by the Maldives landed on the runway of
6776-463: Was actively involved in the entire process of the report from investigation to drafting, but resigned on 29 August 2012, the day before the CoNI Report was published. Speaking on his resignation, the two advisors - representatives of the United Nations and Commonwealth stated that “Four of the five members [of CoNI] acted with independence and integrity in carrying out the important task for the future of
6864-578: Was born to Hassan Ibrahim Maniku and Aishath Moosa. He was the first of ten children. President Waheed attended the American University of Beirut for four years, studying for two of those years in the midst of the Lebanese civil war ; completing a bachelor's degree in English Language as well as a diploma in teaching. By 1976, President Waheed returned home to the Maldives, and took up a post teaching
6952-510: Was constituted on the 21st of February 2012 and published its report on the 30th of August 2012. The CoNI was composed of 5 members and two advisors, including representatives of the United Nations and Commonwealth . Former Supreme Court Justice of Singapore G.P. Selvam was nominated by the Commonwealth to head the Commission. The CoNI's 5 Members also included a representative of Nasheed who
7040-462: Was contracted to the Saudi Bin Laden Group in 2019. The new Terminal is slated for early opening by July 2025, later becoming fully operational by Mid to Late-2025. The expansion project also includes the construction of a cargo terminal and a fuel farm that is expected to be completed in 2020. The current cargo terminal permits the handling of 50,000 tonnes of cargo per year, the new terminal
7128-504: Was finally demolished. Although the new runway was inaugurated on 5 September 2018 by then president of Maldives, Yameen Abdul Gayoom , it was not in use for scheduled flights for 4 years from then until the runway was fully ready. On 26 June 2019, a Maldivian Airbus A320 successfully tested the new southwest apron at Velana International Airport. This was the first live flight operation testing by Maldives Airports Company as they awaited final certification for operations. On 17 July 2019,
7216-600: Was formed on 1 January 1994 to operate and manage the Malé International Airport. MACL is governed by the board of directors appointed by the President of the Maldives . On 26 July 2011, Malé International Airport was officially renamed as the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in memory of Ibrahim Nasir , the 2nd President of the Maldives and the founder of the airport. On 1 January 2017,
7304-531: Was later made the head of UNICEF Afghanistan. Soon, Waheed was asked to return to New York, where he was the UNICEF representative and the Associate Director to the UNDCO . Due to political developments in the Maldives, Waheed retired from the UN, and returned home to try to play a role in bringing democracy to the country. However, as his resources depleted, and as he felt the main opposition party began to favor
7392-423: Was seen by many as the effective demise of the Thaana script. Clarence Maloney, an American anthropologist who was in the Maldives at the time of the change, lamented the inconsistencies of the "Dhivehi Latin" which ignored all previous linguistic research on the Maldivian language done by H.C.P. Bell and Wilhelm Geiger. He wondered why the modern Standard Indic transliteration had not been considered. Standard Indic
7480-439: Was subjected to torture during Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ’s tenure and later passed away from her injuries while her son Naushad Waheed was in prison. He was not allowed to attend her funeral. Waheed claims to be the first citizen of the Maldives to receive a PhD, having received it at Stanford University in the U.S., and the first person to appear on Maldivian Television. However, there are several who disputed this claim. Waheed
7568-475: Was the first Maldivian Vice President to have fully succeeded to presidency, when President Mohamed Nasheed resigned after a mutiny, until November 2013. Soon after taking office during his first press conference, he infamously asked, ‘Do I look like a man who would stage a coup d’état?’. Although, he vehemently denies being part of a coup, during a press conference he revealed, ’I have proud political parties in this country who are backing me. And then I have all
7656-493: Was trailed by Abdullah Yameen who received 25.40% of the vote share (53,099), Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party who received 24.02% of all votes (50,422), and Waheed with only 5.13% of the votes (10,750). The fairness of the results of the 2013 elections has been challenged in the Supreme Court. Various reports suggest duplicates, names of deceased and underaged in the official voter list. Political leaders are insisting on
7744-508: Was widespread relief in certain places, especially rural areas, where the introduction of Latin had been regarded with suspicion. However, the Latin transcription of 1976 continues to be widely used. The 412-page hard-back English–Maldivian dictionary, A Maldivian Dictionary , written by Christopher Hanby Baillie Reynolds , was published on 22 July 2003 by Routledge and contains about 5000 individual entries. Different islands due to distance have
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