economic zones

Velana Airport expansion and designation of Funadhoo Island as an economic zone

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Plans for expansion of Velana Airport, the main airport in the Maldives, and a linked Economic Zone on Funadhoo Island are certainly ambitious. A video outlines a blueprint for a 20-year, multi-billion dollar development.

The expanded airport will be designed to accommodate 25 million passengers per year (nearly a six-fold increase over 4.3 million passengers in 2022). A new cargo terminal is forecast to handle 100,000 tonnes by 2025, rising to 300,000 tonnes by 2050. Aviation fuel farm storage will be expanded fro 15 million litres to 100 million litres. The passenger processing capacity of the domstic terminal will be increased from 300 per hour to 2,000. A self contained jet terminal is described as ‘serving niche market segments of the airline industry, exploiting this market segment and investing in it is an essential part of the future airport infrastructure’. The airport footrpint will extend to other islands. Seaplane facilites operations will be relocated to another island and linked to passenger terminals via a new bridge. The ‘epitome of this futuristic vision’ is development of an Airport Economic Zone on the island of Funadhoo, linked to the rest of Velana Airport and ‘offering a plethora of shopping opportunities’ along with hotels, convention centres and entertainment facilities.

There are plans to remove the oil tanks on Funadhoo, between Velana Airport and Malé, and designate the island as an Airport Economic Zone with shopping malls, hotels,convention centres. and entertainment facilities.

Ambitious plans for the small island of Funadhoo, currently taken up by oil tanks and located to the east of Velana Aiport and close to Malé, the capital city, were announced in September 2023. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said that the oil tanks would be removed and replaced with a convention centre, hotel and shopping malls. On 4th January 2024, current President of the Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, inaugurated the Velana International Airport and economic zone megaproject and pledged to develop Funadhoo Island as an international financial hub. He also revealed plans to create the ‘Maldives International Financial Services Authority’ as a step towards establishing an international financial centre in the Maldives. On 22nd January President Muizzu announced that, following relocation of the fuel storage to Maagiri Falhu, Funadhoo would be designated as a special economic zone.

Airport Expansion in Indonesia: tourism, land struggles, economic zones and aerotropolis projects

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Indonesia cover mA new report Airport Expansion in Indonesia: tourism, land struggles, economic zones and aerotropolis projects has been published by the Third World Network (TWN) in partnership with GAAM. Airport expansion in Indonesia is closely intertwined with a government drive for massive tourism growth, and the 64-page report looks at 58 airports, operational, under construction and still in the planning stage.

New airports, and expansion of existing airports, frequently entails displacement of communities and loss of farmland and the report documents land rights struggles relating to 25 airport projects. Planners often hone in on forested land as an alternative to the use of agricultural land for airport projects.

Aviation expansion in Indonesia is integrated with other megparojects such as multi-lane highways and sea ports, and linked to new Special Economic Zones (SEZs). These areas are designated for industrial and tourism development, provided with surface transportation networks and other supportive infrastructure and lavished with tax breaks and other incentives. Several SEZs have been bestowed with long stretches of coastline boasting white sand beaches, natural assets that are a cornerstone of tourism.

There are many plans for aerotropolis-style development, including around two airports currently under construction in Java – Kulon Progo and Kertajati – in the face of vigorous and long standing resistance from communities being forced to leave their homes and productive agricultural land. A number of aerotropolis plans are integrated with development of tourist resorts that aspire to become aviation dependent destinations in their own right. The report accompanies GAAM’s digital map which features all the airports that are mentioned, integrating spatial information with text and images.

Since the report went to print plans for a new airport in the Seribu Islands (Thousand Islands) off the coast of Jakarta have been announced. This appears to be a scheme for tourism oriented aerotropolis style development as the Jakarta administration has stated that the winner of the tender will be permitted to build resorts near the airport, and will be provided with incentives.

For paper copies of the report, please contact:  Third World Network, 131 Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia, Tel: 60-4-2266728/2266159, Fax: 60-4-2264505, Email: twn@twnetwork.org.

Mapping aviation expansion in Indonesia

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Following extensive research GAAM has published a digital interactive map: Aviation expansion in Indonesia: tourism, land struggles, economic zones, and aerotropolis projects. The map includes 60 airports – operational, under construction and still at the proposal stage, plus two airport projects which were cancelled. The issue of land rights in particular is highlighted, documenting disputes and resistance against displacement relating to 25 airport projects. Two airports currently under construction in Java, Kertajati and Kulon Progo, are of particular concern because of human rights violations, including police brutality, against people resisting eviction from their homes and productive agricultural land. Aerotropolis development is planned adjoining both of these airports.

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Screengrab of GAAM Aviation Expansion in Indonesia digital map

The digital map represents only a fraction of airport projects in Indonesia, which already has 237 operational airports with a government expansion drive aiming for 62 new airports within 15 years, bringing the total number to 299. Yet it demonstrates the exciting potential of online mapping for organizing, analyzing and presenting information. GAAM hopes to collaborate with other organizations in the development of online maps to develop a more comprehensive picture of aviation expansion and the impacts on affected communities, making the most of this wonderful technology to support our research, awareness raising and campaigning. The map was designed and produced by InTouch GIS using the Storymap app.

A forthcoming report, Aviation expansion in Indonesia: tourism, land struggles, economic zones, and aerotropolis projects, contextualizes the information in GAAM’s online map, examining the central role of aviation expansion in a government drive for tourism growth and the integration of several airport projects with other infrastructure such as road networks and ports, economic zones and aerotropolis developments. The report will be published by GAAM in partnership with the Third World Network (TWN).