 Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom opened this airport.The length of the runway at Kadhdhoo airport was 762 meters long and 30 m wide.When the Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom assumed office in 1978, some of the most pressing problems faced by the country were the immense difficulty involved in traveling between Malé and the outlying islands and the adverse effects in the Maldivian fishing industry due to illegal entry of foreign fishing vessels into the Maldivian territorial waters.