Island Aviation racks up MVR 1.12 billion in debt to MACL

The Island Aviation Services Limited (IASL), which operates the national carrier Maldivian, is MVR 1.12 billion in debt to the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), according to MACL’s Managing Director Ibrahim Shareef.

In a meeting with the Parliament’s State-owned Enterprises Committee on Tuesday, Shareef was questioned about the MACL’s financial situation.

He said that several SOEs have yet to clear massive debts to MACL.

He said that Island Aviation alone has racked up debts of MVR 1.12 billion.

“They still have MVR 1.12 billion in outstanding payments owed to us, that is despite providing them of an average annual discount of MVR 78 million,” he said.

Shareef said that the company would be able to reduce its costs if the companies clear the outstanding payments.

“…As a result of this, we are forced to go to banks to secure working capital. If we receive these payments, we would be able to reduce our financial expenses to some extent,” he said.

An audit report earlier this year showed Island Aviation had MVR 351 million in outstanding payments to MACL. According to Shareef, this figure has now risen above MVR 1 billion.

The earlier audit report shows Island Aviation accumulated the debt starting 2016, racking up MVR 248 million in debt in 2021 alone.