Kadhdhoo Domestic Airport
When our president, His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom assumed office in1978, some of the most pressing problems faced by the country were the immense difficulty involved in traveling between Malé and the outlying islands and the adverse effects in the Maldivian fishing industry due to illegal entry of foreign fishing vessels into the Maldivian territorial waters. As a step to solve the aforementioned problems, it was decided by the present government to enact air links between Malé and four other vital regions. Kadhdhoo is an approximately large island and is situated in the region of halfway between the airport of Malé and Gan.

Project activity.
From it’s initial conception the project ranks among the development program initiated by His Excellency President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom the project implementation was supervised by the then Minister of Trade and Industries-cum-Deputy Minister of Defense and National Security, Honorable Ilyas Ibrahim.

Special mention has to be made of First Lieutenant Kairu Tuttu Maniku for his active role in the implementation of the project. Likewise, Mr. Kun’di Ali Saleem; Mr. Ahmed Mahreen, the senior Maintenance Technician of the Civil Aviation Authority; Major Shaukath Ibrahim; Lieutenant Ahmed Zahir; Lance Corporal Gasim Ahmed and Mr. Ranvikka Adam Maniku then a Staff Sergeant of the National Security Service all made significant contributions. The Ministry of Defense and National Security and the State Trading Organization rendered valuable assistance during the project’s early stages.

Excavation for the runway began on 11th January 1982, and the final layer of the runway was completed on 6th April 1986.
The project was implemented totally using local expertise, and though it was initiated under the Government’s budget alone, additional financial assistance was received from outside, notably from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Fund (OPEC Fund).
The first aircraft to land at Kadhdhoo airport was an Air Maldives Sky van flight on 10th December 1986. His Excellency the President of Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom opened this airport. The length of the runway at Kadhdhoo airport was 1,212 meters.

Kadhdhoo Airport in a glance.
 

Type of airport:	Domestic
Estimated load clarification no:	50
Runway Length:	762m
Runway Width:	30m
Apron:	105m x 22m
Taxi-way:	42m x 15m
Largest aircraft that can be accommodated:	Short take-off and landing aircraft whose maximum weight does not exceed 5700kg.