The Indian Ocean rarely makes the news where air transport is concerned but events concerning Goa, the Portuguese-influenced state on India’s west coast, and The Maldives, 1250 km due south, are noteworthy.

Indian Ocean: Maldives invites foreign firms to manage its airports

In the Maldives, an archipelago which continues to sink and which may not yet see 2050 (the year of ‘net zero), the government has embraced the concept of firms with 100% foreign ownership managing its airports, despite a disastrous short dalliance with GMR (India) and Malaysia Airports more than a decade ago.

Here, we look more closely at the Maldives and the big question of how it intends to attract any investor to very small island airports without permitting them a piece of the action of one of the (small number of) larger ones.

Moreover, can it afford to get embroiled in the political machinations that arise out of its strategic position in the Indian Ocean?