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Visakhapatnam | Visakhapatnam International Airport | VTZ

675K views 2K replies 159 participants last post by  Anvesh AB 
#1 ·
T minus three months till the inauguration of the new international terminal with 24 hrs operations and direct services to singapore and sri lanka.



salient features as highlighted in the article above
1) largest terminal among tier II cities
2) fully centralized air conditioning
3) 2 floors with duty free shops and restaurants on the second floor
4) installation of CC TV's and car calling equipment underway
5) parking lots for hundreds of cars
6) teminal to be completed by november and handed over to the AAI
 
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#3 ·
Internation airport to be inaugurated soon

VISAKHAPATNAM: The international airport here, work on which is progressing at a brisk pace, will be inaugurated in three to four months, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel has said.

Mr. Patel was here to participate in the ‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhaavana Sammelan,’ organised on the occasion of MP T. Subbarami Reddy’s birthday, on Wednesday.

He said that round-the-clock operations at the airport would begin after the new terminal buildings were inaugurated.

Direct flights, the Minister added, would be introduced to Singapore and other destinations.

He described the airport developments as Mr. Reddy’s birthday gift to the people of Visakhapatnam.............
 
#4 ·
Singapore airlines eyes vizag

HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding current economic global downtrend, India continues to be a key market for Singapore Airlines to step up its operations, says Singapore Airlines General Manager, India Foo Chai Woo.

“We will be looking at tier-II cities to operate flights and Visakhapatnam and Pune are in our radar,” Mr. Woo who was here to receive Pacific Asia Travel Association Gold Awards 2008 for Marketing told The Hindu on Friday.

The airline which operates four flights per week from Hyderabad hopes to operate seven days a week in about 18 months subject to outcome of government to government talks. “Our strategy is to add frequency for existing flights to offer more departure choice for the travellers”.....
 
#7 ·
airport set to join big league

Visakhapatnam: Invesetment to the tune Rs.50,000 crore to the ‘City if Destiny’ is in the pipeline and infrastructure facilities like air connectivity is essential for this. The new integrated terminal here, as assured by the Minister for Aviation Praful Patel, would be ready by December, but certain others things which are not in the purview of Civil Aviation Ministry, need to be completed. The appointment of customs and internal security staff would have to be cleared by the Finance and Home Ministries respectively. “I will get clearance for all these by December,” said former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP, T. Subbarami Reddy.

Addressing a meeting of advance celebrations on the occasion of Visakahpatnam Airport’s Entry into the Big League, the MP said that Visakhapatnam was a fast growing industrial city and to attract industrialists all facilities including external connectivity should be ensured. Air travel was a luxury in the past, but now it has become a necessity and there would be demand for any number of airlines, he said. He had also promised to use his good office for improving train connectivity to Visakhapatnam.
Ambitious plans

Earlier speakers, who included president of Air Travellers Association (India) Varada Reddy who presided over the function and Mayor, P. Janardhana Rao, recalled the untiring efforts of of Mr. Subbarami Reddy to get the integrated air terminal to Visakhapatnam. Mr. Varada reddy said that the celebrations would continue till the international flights commence from the new terminal. C. Pattabhi, Air Port Controller, gave details of progress of work at the Rs.94 crore new terminal. A 10,000 ft runway with night landing facility, car parking for 600 vehicles, ATM, Epost office are some of them. He said that the airport would cater to a targeted six lakh travellers this year.
 
#8 ·
I went past the airport few days ago, the airport seem to be much closer or rather right next to the NH5, and it did look quite big. I'll post the pic(s) later today. One can see a big parking lot from the highway itself.

Apart from Singapore n Sri Lanka, I haven't read any other airline interested in Vizag. Anyways, the situation in the aviation sector in the whole country (even world) is not looking good, so can't complain for anything. One good thing in the recent times, thanks to Indian Govt Aviation policy of requiring airlines to fly atleast 20% of their flights to tier-II and remote areas, is that there are now more number of domestic flights to Vizag, some even direct flights, not just the hop n go type.
 
#9 · (Edited)
^^The situation is as same as in global arena but that depends mostly on occupancy ratio in the International Sector since flights are direct & non-stop but,i strongly believe that Response from Vizag would be great amidst high prices of ticket coz there's lot of business activities going on & International seminars that City organizes.Well will be pleased if could post the pictures of the Airport waiting for it.
 
#10 ·


Translation of the page above
1) Immigration Staff/Officials ready for the international airport
2) Airport to start operations from december(the usual talk)
3) More staff need to be hired for 24/7 operations.
4) Ariport will help bring huge investments to the region
 
#17 ·
visakhapatnam ranked 13 among airports in the country based on domestic flights per day.

AHMEDABAD 39/ 7
COCHIN 33/ 8
GAWHATI 32/ 9
PUNE 29/ 10
GOA 26/ 11
COIMBATORE 20/ 12
VISAKHAPATNAM 18/ 13
INDORE 18/ 13
NAGPUR 16/ 15
TRIVANDRUM 14/ 16
MANGALORE 12/ 17
First 6 airports 1-Mumbai, 2-Delhi, 3-Chennai, 4-Bangalore, 5-Kolkata, 6-Hyderabad

and this is with the old small dilapidated airport with no 24/7 flights.
come the new terminal and round the clock operations it will easily zoom into the top 10.
 
#18 ·
VMC has to come up with aero-express kinda service from Vizag Int'l airport to station/RTC complex/Steel plant to help increase the no. of passengers. Right now, only taxiis are the only way you can get out of airport, true ? or autos too allowed inside the airport area ?

By luck, VIA is right off the NH5 but providing more connectivity via dedicated bus service is vital too.

I somehow felt the necessity of having flyovers at the Gajuwaka junction and NAD junction on my last month trip. Soo many vehicles get queued up at the redlights.
 
#19 ·
Took these pics last week of the upcoming international terminal from the airstrip side.
Please excuse the quality as they were shot with a cellphone cam.

The aerobridges are not in place yet. The building is nowhere near completion. The connecting road to the terminal is not ready yet. They are still building some culverts over some pipelines. I dont see how this airport will be ready by December.





 
#22 ·
^^Cool shots thanks for the update Luckystreak this would be an eye candy once finished waiting for it....
 
#26 ·
Night-landing to be fully operational by next month




Permission for recruiting additional staff obtained

At present flights being operated eight to nine hours only

After a slump, number of passengers going up


VISAKHAPATNAM: Permission for recruitment of additional staff required to man the modern airport terminal with night-landing facilities at Visakhapatnam has reportedly been obtained by the Naval authorities from the Ministries of Finance and Defence.

The new terminal with the provision for landing domestic and international flights, is likely to be fully operational by December for which additional staff with required training is needed. It may be recalled that the operation of electronically controlled air traffic at the Visakhapatnam airport is with the authorities of the Navy. At present, it is possible to operate air traffic only for eight to nine hours with the available man power. The present schedule of air traffic is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The airport remains closed during the rest of the day. The authorities concerned have been making efforts to get sanction for the additional man power to meet the requirements at the new terminal. It has to be cleared by the Ministries of Finance and Defence.
Flood protection

The flood protection works at the airport, which were scheduled to be completed by September this year but got delayed, are also nearing completion. The Rs.70 crore work, taken up by the Irrigation and Command Area Development Department, will ensure that the airport is not flooded during rainy season. Flooding of airport during rainy season is one of the major recurring problems at the airport.

Because of this problem, flight services had been disrupted for weeks together. The flooding was caused by Meghadrigedda and Kondagedda.

The project envisages digging of two channels, measuring 6.792 km. and 6.8 km. respectively, to direct water to sea. The Chief Engineer of North Coast projects, G. Prasada Rao, has asserted that the work will be completed in all aspects by December.

Meanwhile, after a sort of slump caused due to various reasons, including high fares, the number of passengers at the airport has been going up steadily.

According to authorities, the number of monthly passengers came down to a mere 42,000 a couple of months ago against the normal monthly passenger traffic of over 60,000. Now, it has crossed the 50,000 mark and the airport authorities are hopeful that it will cross the 60,000 again very soon.
 
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