GMR era begins at Male’ International Airport amidst political wrangling
25 Nov 2010, 6:16 PM
Neil Merrett
After months of political wrangling and counter allegations, as the clock turned one minute past midnight this morning Indian infrastructure giant GMR took the reins of Male’ International Airport as part of an overhaul it claims will help “increase the brand value” of the Maldives.
In a consortium with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), GMR says it will kick start a 180 day programme to try and improve service, efficiency and profitability of the site ahead of an US$511m expansion project that includes the construction of a new airport terminal by 2014.
The airport consortium, which saw off competition from a number of rival bids to win a long-standing contract to privatise the running of the country’s central transport hub, made a point of trying to offset concerns about the intention of foreign ownership and its potential impact on Maldivian workers.
“The airport belongs to the people of the Maldives,” said Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Business Chairman of Airports for the GMR Group at a function to commemorate the new management structure. “This consortium hopes to bring the best of technology and architecture and service to the airport.”
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