The Noonu corridor: Maafaru emerges as Maldives' private jet hub
A turtle nesting beach became a billionaire gateway.
Artwork: Dosain
3 hours ago
The Maldives welcomed a fleet of ultra-wealthy visitors over the New Year holidays. At least eight superyachts anchored in or near Maldivian waters. Dozens of private jets arrived at the Velana International Airport near Malé. But it was a UAE-financed airport 180 kilometres to the north that emerged as the main hub for private aviation.
Over the peak tourism period, the Maafaru International Airport in Noonu atoll expected more than 25 private jets parked on its apron at any one time. It was the most the facility has ever handled.
"When we extended the parking space, we reached 800 last year. Before that we had to turn away 50 to 80 aircraft during the season because we were full," Mumthaz Ali, the airport's general manager, told the Maldives Independent.
"We didn't have that problem this year."
In 2025, Maafaru recorded 804 private jet movements, up 38 percent from 579 the previous year. There were 102 movements in December alone – up from 98 movements in December 2024 – more than three per day. "For January, it's similar including the bookings we’ve received. So the total for December and January will be above 200," Mumthaz said.
A "gift" financed through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and announced by former President Abdulla Yameen in 2017 as a symbol of friendship, the airport opened in 2019 with a 2,200-metre runway. It is managed by the state-owned Island Aviation Services, which operates the national airline Maldivian.
The US$ 76 million project was completed in July 2025 when the runway was extended to 2,850 metres to accommodate wide-body aircraft or the largest commercial jets. Maldivian's first A330-200 flew in to mark the reopening.
Along with an extension to the terminal building, the apron expansion, completed before the December 2025 peak season, more than doubled parking capacity from 13 jets to 30.
Maafaru was built to serve Noonu atoll's ultra-luxury resorts. But its reach has since expanded. Jets now arrive carrying guests bound for properties in the neighbouring atolls, a 15-minute seaplane hop away.
"Those who come to Raa and Baa also prefer to come to Maafaru now," said Mumthaz. "So Joali in Raa and Soneva Fushi and Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru in Baa atoll come here. Near Noonu atoll there are a lot of high-end properties like Cheval Blanc, but now it's getting distributed more and more."
The traffic is predominantly European and Middle Eastern. Since the runway extension, the airport has received wide-body aircraft including Airbus A330s and Boeing 787s. These jets are capable of flying direct from the Gulf or southern Europe without a fuel stop.
The resorts
Noonu hosts some of the most expensive accommodation on the planet:
Cheval Blanc Randheli – Owned by LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate. Opened 2013. 45 villas across six islands, designed by Jean-Michel Gathy. Guests arrive on the resort's private seaplane.
Velaa Private Island – The passion project of Czech billionaire Jiří Šmejc. 47 villas, a nine-hole golf course designed by José María Olazábal, and the Maldives' only covered tennis court. A one-hectare private island villa can be booked for exclusive use.
Soneva Jani – Part of the Soneva group's celebrated "slow life" brand. Overwater villas with retractable roofs for stargazing and waterslides into the lagoon.
These properties cater to what the industry calls "high-net-worth individuals."
Despite missing the government's target of 2.3 million tourists, the Maldives welcomed 2.24 million visitors in 2025 – up 9.8 percent – and earned US$ 5.4 billion in tourism receipts, according to the Visit Maldives Corporation, which explicitly shifted strategy toward "high-yield tourism" and "luxury experiences." The government's marketing company launched its first superyacht-focused campaigns last year.
In Maafaru, most passengers who arrive by private jet "go straight to their resorts," Mumthaz said.
Island Aviation handles all refuelling and ground operations, "but there are jet supervision agents from places like Skytours who assist with processes but we handle all services," he said.
"We do have set fees for landing and parking. Departure taxes, navigation charges and all airport tax charges are routine and those are collected for the government but everything else, including parking fees are for Island Aviation."
The Maafaru project had a troubled history. The original contractor, Tuff Infrastructure of Singapore, faced Anti-Corruption Commission probes over allegations of bid irregularities, unpaid subcontractors, and inflated costs.
The airport was built on a major turtle nesting ground. In April 2019, a photo of a turtle laying eggs on the new airstrip went viral and caught the attention of international media. As most turtles return to the same beach where they were hatched, turtles continued to come ashore for nesting.
In late 2019, when the former Environment Protection Agency reviewed a proposed expansion, it rejected the environmental impact assessment. The plan would have destroyed 22,000 trees – "a major portion of the existing vegetation of the island" – and eliminate a seagrass bed used as a turtle grazing area, the EPA said.
The sanctions question
The eight superyachts in or near Maldivian waters over the New Year period included the 142-metre Nord.
Valued at US$ 500 million, the Nord is owned by Alexei Mordashov, Russia's third-richest man. He has been under EU, UK and US sanctions since February 2022 for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. His smaller yacht was seized by Italian police shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. The Nord has spent much of the past three years moving between jurisdictions that do not enforce Western sanctions, including Hong Kong, the Seychelles, South Africa, and repeatedly, the Maldives.
AIS tracking data showed the Nord anchored near Malé in late December 2024, January 2025, and November 2025.
Mumthaz said it was not up to Island Aviation to screen for sanctioned individuals. "We just handle the airport operations. It's up to border control to look at the travellers," he said.
Some clients "based on their profile may get diplomatic clearance. For example, some from royal families in the Middle East," he said.
"We get information about which type of aircraft it is. We do get information about the passengers, too, but we have to maintain confidentiality about the clients."
According to AIS tracking data from early January, other superyachts in or near Maldivian water included the 123-metre Al Lusail, owned by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, which was transiting near the Maldives exclusive economic zone. The 96-metre Faith, belonging to Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll – owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team – was cruising the central atolls. Several charter yachts, including the 74-metre Lady E and smaller Maldives-based vessels, rounded out the fleet.
The 76-metre Wheels, logged in the Malé anchorage, was previously owned by Vladimir Potanin, another sanctioned Russian oligarch. It has since changed hands to German entrepreneur Ralf Schmid.
Under both the previous and current administrations, the Maldives voted at the United Nations to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, despite maintaining a public stance of cooperating with international efforts against sanctioned individuals, in practice the country does not consider itself bound by sanctions imposed by individual jurisdictions.
"Our entrance policy is very open. Maldives is an open country," a source from the previous government told Reuters in 2022.
The European Commission has acknowledged that its sanctions are not binding on non-EU states. The US Treasury has not sent the Maldivian government a formal warning that hosting sanctioned assets would affect access to US financial markets – a threat that would carry real weight for a country whose tourism receipts are substantially denominated in dollars.
In the absence of such pressure, the calculus is straightforward. Russia was the second-largest source market in 2025 with 278,760 arrivals – up 20 percent year-on-year – representing a 12.4 percent market share.
Back in Maafaru, Island Aviation Services is working with a German company on a master plan that envisions a two-storey terminal building with completion expected in late 2026. There will be an airport hotel for tourists and staff, a permanent fuel facility, and an expanded seaplane terminal. Negotiations are underway for direct international scheduled flights, not just charters and private jets.
Around the airport, 10,000 tourism beds have been allocated for development.
The Noonu corridor is being engineered to scale.
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