The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Captain Mohamed Ameen, has stated that Island Aviation, which operated the national airline, was in debt of two billion rufiyaa by the end of the previous government’s term.
Speaking at a ceremony held today to welcome Maldivian’s new wide-body aircraft, the Minister said that Island Aviation is a 100% state-owned company established in 2000 with a paid-up capital of four million rufiyaa. He noted that by the end of 2018, the company’s asset value was 2.8 billion rufiyaa, and it had earned revenue of about 2 billion rufiyaa that year.
The Minister stated, “The company’s net profit in 2018 was 89 million rufiyaa.” He also highlighted that until the end of 2018, the company was progressing well, paying dividends to the state.
“However, the reality is that by the end of 2023, in just five years, the company is in debt of over 2 billion. This is the truth. …The Male-Chennai-Dhaka, Dhaka-Chennai-Male sector that Maldivian had been operating since 2012 has been suspended. Many seaplane contracts have been lost by the company. The China operations that started in 2013, which were conducted via Bangkok, have also been halted,” the Minister said.
Captain Ameen mentioned that although significant expenses were incurred to recondition the only A321 aircraft the company had in 2022, that aircraft has also been “abandoned”. He also stated that out of the Dash 8 aircraft the company was using, four have been “abandoned” to an unusable state due to continuous removal of spare parts.
“We are now working to recover the millions in credits given without scrutiny to closely associated parties and credits issued by the company without any principle. The result of Island Aviation, which was progressing in the right direction, falling into the hands of those who couldn’t manage it, is the neglect of the company’s assets, the loss of many important business ventures, and the company being in debt of several billion rufiyaa,” the Minister said. He added that with the changes brought to Maldivian’s operations and management system by the current government, they expect to “recover” and improve the company’s performance. The Minister also noted that the government’s vision is to expand wide-body aircraft operations to additional destinations.
