In the past 6 months alone, 490,000 US Dollars was spent to train employees- Andrew

Chief Executive Officer of Indian GMR Infrastructure, Mr. Andrew A. Harrison has said that more than 490,000 US Dollars has been spent on training and familiarization for GMIAL staff. A total of more than 600 staff have been trained in the past 6 months alone, since GMR took over the management of Male’ International Airport.

On the increase in Land lease rates Mr. Andrew said that a written communication has been sent to Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA), Maldives Air Taxi (MAT) and Island Aviation. The increase is US$ 6 to US$ 9. He further clarified that 2 meetings have already been held with TMA and MAT to consider alternative options viable to both TMA and MAT. In addition to this the MD of IAS has confirmed that IAS will be meeting GMIAL this week to discuss alternative options that IAS feels would be more viable. GMIAL will only institute the price increases in consultation with the relevant companies so that a viable solution is agreed with the companies. There is no unilateral increase in charges and Mr. Harrison and the 3 companies are pleased with the direction the on going discussions are taking.

Mr. Andrew indicated that the airport needed to be profitable in order to invest in the development of infra structure and training of staff. This would improve the overall travelling experience of international and domestic passengers as well as the working experience for staff at the airport. The ultimate objective of the staff development programme is to prepare staff for working in the new terminal facility and GMIAL is working to ensure that all of our current staff have an opportunity to be employed in the new terminal complex.

Mr. Andrew said that whilst that GMR is working to ensure that the airport is managed profitably GMR is doing so responsibly through adequate consultation with stakeholders and due consideration for the impact of any price changes. He assured that no additional fees or rents will be taken from any party except in cases of necessity. He also noted that over the last 6 months a number of service level improvements have taken place and there is a monthly monitoring of service levels taking place currently.