unwind® news | RAF Veterans to Re-Visit Addu Gan

Photo: The RAF Crest

Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) has announced that 58 Royal Air Force (RAF) veterans who were stationed in Gan during the World War II is to re-visit the Maldives on March 22, 2010. In order to celebrate their return - the Island Aviation, Cosmos Monarch, Kaimoo and MTPB have organized several events. They will be officially welcomed at the airport on arrival. Some of these officers have had visited the Maldives on vacation since the base was closed.

The Maldives became a British Protectorate in 1941 with self-governing power in the hands of the Maldivian Monarchs and re-gained its independence on July 26, 1965; however, the British continued to maintain their air base in Gan at Addu Atoll until 1976. Following the handover, the air strip was recently developed as an airport and currently known as the Gan International Airport.

The reminiscent of the British base still remains intact in Gan and is a unique attraction for the locals as well as tourists staying at the Equator Village and Shangri-La Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives.