Velana International Airport is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, nearby the capital island Malé. When searching for flights you are looking for the MLE airport code. Details of airlines flying to the Maldives can be found on the official airport website can be found here https://macl.aero.

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The international terminal is one building with both arrival & departure areas intermixed. On arrival & having exited the secure area you will enter the large public area, where you will find plenty of seating, free device charging points, airport, information desk, resort & Maldivian Airways desks, public toilets, baggage storage facility costing $6 for up to 24 hours, dining area with coffee bistros a Burger King and others, convenience shops, pharmacy, currency exchange, ATM's, mobile service operator stores where you can purchase/collect a local sim. There is also an Ooredoo self-service 24hr machine where you purchase a sim or recharge without having to enter their store. If you unfortunately do not have time to purchase a sim at the airport, the shops or properties will normally sell prepaid Ooredoo sims with various data/SMS/call packages available from only 35 USD.

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For smokers. The only place smoking landside is permitted is just outside the terminal on the harbour where you meet your transfer vessels. It's only a minutes' walk outside. When departing the Maldives, there is a smoking-room airside which can be found in the dining area on the left. Smoking is not permitted in any of the lounges!

 

There are no walk-in landside lounges, only the VIP Service Lounge which is part of the arrival/Departure VIP Service. The VIP Service is available for a fee. You will be greeted at the plane & cared for right through to boarding your transfer to the island. For more information, please go to the dedicated page on the airport website here.

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​TRANSFERS

Upon arrival in the Maldives and having exited the secure area of the airport you will normally be greeted by a transfer representative from either the hotel or transfer vessel company in the arrivals hall and escorted to the vessel in the airport harbour which is only a few meters away. If you cannot find or have not arranged for a representative to meet you and your vessel is departing from the airport. Simply exit the arrivals area/terminal, walking outside to the harbour where all vessels dock either side of the smoking area & locate the name of your transfer vessel.

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​If your vessel is departing from the main Malé harbour, you will need to exit the arrivals area/terminal, walking outside and you will see the airport ferry terminal across the road and to your right. This is where you board the Airport Ferry which will take you to the Malé Ferry Terminal and costs 10 or 20 Rufiya depending on the time of day. Once you have disembarked in Malé, you need to exit the terminal to the right and keep walking along the harbour until you reach the harbour area containing all the speedboats. The Airport Transfer takes around 10 minutes and the walk around 6 minutes.

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Airport-Male’-Airport Ferry boat service (Frequency Every 10 minutes from 6:00 to 23:59 & Every 30 minutes from 00:00 to 6:00)

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Now the airport is connected by bridge to the capital, you can also get a taxi to take you to the Jetty on Malé which should cost no more than 60 Rufiya or the bus which costs 20 Rufiya and will take you to the Malé Main Bus Stop but this means you have further to walk to reach the main harbour to meet your speedboat!

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You must book your speedboat transfer with the Hotel or registered public speedboat company no less than 72 hours prior to arrival at the airport or departure from the island. Failure to do so, may result in your not being able to board any of the vessels. Where you have made a last-minute holiday booking, resulting in you arriving in less than 72 hours and you have not booked a transfer with the property, the property cannot guarantee a convenient transfer for you. In these circumstances you should immediately contact your property to enquire if they can provide a transfer on the day of your arrival at the airport.

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While you are heading to immigration your luggage is being screened before you receive it at Baggage Claim. However, after immigration you may be asked to do a second screening. It is an offence to have pork and pork products, alcohol, explosives, weapons, firearms, ammunition, pornographic material, materials deemed contrary to Islam including ‘idols for worship’ and bibles.

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Immigration & Customs

Duty Free Allowances. Items brought in by passengers for their own use when travelling to Maldives. These items include:
Clothes, jewelry, watches, pens, portable gadgets, toiletries, books, magazines, newspapers and zero Alcohol. Bringing in any type of alcohol is strictly forbidden. 200 cigarettes or 25 cigars or 250g of tobacco & up to MVR 6,000 worth of other personal items.
(Click here for the official government customs website)
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​All travelers are required to go through immigration clearance upon arrival. Tourist visas are granted for all nationalities, free of charge, on arrival. The Traveller Declaration form, or the electronic embarkation/disembarkation form, has been enhanced to improve the customer experience and minimize the time spent by the traveler in filling out the form. Major changes include the auto-fillable personal information and increasing the time limit to submit the form. As such, the personal information will be automatically filled-in when you take a photo of the bio-data page of the passport and upload it. It is more convenient as travelers can take instant images of their passports and upload them. 

 

Inbound passengers must satisfy the following basic entry requirements before they can be considered for entry into Republic of Maldives:
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• All arriving and departing passengers via airports and seaports are required to complete the Traveller Health Declaration form within 96 hours 96 hours of the flight time on arrival and departure. 

• A passport or Travel Document with Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) with a minimum of 1 month validity after your departure. 

• Proof of a Pre-Paid hotel booking/accommodation (Confirmed with payment on arrival are accepted in most cases but this is not guaranteed).

• Proof of Travel Insurance (TI) for the intended period of stay in the Maldives. If not covered in your own travel insurance policy, you can additionally purchase the Maldives Government approved Tourist COVID-19 Insurance policy from Allied’s website here. 

• Sufficient funds to last for the intended period of stay in Maldives 

• Confirmed onward/return tickets to home country or a country of Resident (not applicable for valid Resident permit holders) 

• Entry facilities to their onward destinations, e.g., visas. 

• Completed Disembarkation/Embarkation Card approved by Maldives Immigration

• Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate, if applicable  

• Other vaccinations: Unless you are flying from tropical Africa there are no required by law vaccinations for the Maldives for entry or exit. However, for your own personal health it is strongly recommended that travelers be covered against the main food and water borne diseases (Hepatitis A and Typhoid) and Tetanus. Please check with your Foreign Office service to keep up to date with changes to vaccination requirements and or recommendations.

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The maximum number of days granted on arrival will be 30 days unless agreed by any bilateral means or Treaty. The 30 days is not for the passenger to claim but lies at the discretion of the Immigration to grant any number of days less than or equal to 30.  The period of stay granted is shown on the endorsement given on the passport. Passengers are advised to check their passports for the arrival endorsement and take note of the number of days stay given. 
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All Passengers Entering on a Tourist visa are not permitted to engage in any form of business, occupation, profession or paid employment while in Maldives. It is a punishable offence to overstay in Maldives beyond the number of days given. A fine of MVR 15750 will be imposed as an overstayed fee. and denial of re-entry is common for your lifetime. Click here for the Maldives Immigration Website.
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DEPARTING MALDIVES
All persons departing the Maldives must still complete the online IMUGA Traveller Declaration no more than 96 hours prior to departing the Maldives. The Online Declaration form can be found here: https://imuga.immigration.gov.mv/ethd/create.

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​Immigration & Customs
You & your luggage will be screened before entering the check in hall and once checked in, you and your carryon luggage will be screened for a second time prior to passing through immigration.

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​When leaving the Maldives, you should know it is an offence to depart with alcohol, tortoise shell and coral. Customs checks/baggage screening is very thorough so it is important you have all your receipts for items purchased during your stay, so as to avoid being inadvertently accused of attempting to leave with prohibited items or items which may incur export fees and so forth.​

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What to expect airside.

There are no on-site sleeping facilities but there is one lounge airside which can be accessed for a fee or free depending on the arrangements with your airline. None of the airlines have their own lounge. There is plenty of seating, free device charging points, toilets, smoking room, the usual abundance of duty free and shopping for gifts and other outlets, a variety of food outlets and large dining area with amazing views over the apron and runway. All the gates are on the lower level, accessible by stairs or the lift.