Velana International Airport (IATA: MLE, ICAO: VRMM) is the main international airport of the Maldives, located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, approximately 2 kilometres northeast of the capital city, Malé. The airport is connected to Malé by the 2.1-kilometre Sinamale Bridge and serves as the sole gateway for the vast majority of visitors to the country. It is operated by Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) and handled approximately 8.28 million passengers in 2025, a 7% increase compared to the previous year.
The airport opened on 19 October 1960 when a Royal New Zealand Air Force Bristol Freighter landed on a 914-metre slotted steel sheet runway. The first commercial flight followed on 10 April 1962, operated by Air Ceylon. A new 2,840-metre asphalt runway opened on 12 April 1966, formally establishing Hulhulé Airport as a viable airfield. The airport has been renamed three times throughout its history: Hulhulé Airport, Malé International Airport (inaugurated 11 November 1981), and Ibrahim Nasir International Airport. It was rebranded as Velana International Airport on 1 January 2017 — “Velana” is the ancestral family house name of President Ibrahim Nasir.
On 26 July 2025, coinciding with the Maldives’ 60th Independence Day, the new Terminal 1 was inaugurated. The $585 million terminal replaced the former international terminal built in 1981 and represents the centrepiece of a wider expansion project valued at approximately $1 billion. The new Terminal 1 spans 78,000 square metres across two levels with an annual capacity of 7.5 million passengers — more than five times the old terminal. The terminal’s exterior design draws on ocean wave motifs and traditional Maldivian patterns.
The expansion project also included a new Code F runway (3,400 m × 60 m), completed in September 2018 and fully operational from October 2022. The runway is capable of handling A380 aircraft and increased flight capacity from 8 to 21 movements per hour. Aircraft landing wait times were reduced to 3 minutes from 15. The project broke ground in November 2016 and was completed in March 2024, creating approximately 9,000 jobs during construction.