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Vijayawada Airport getting ready for int’l flight services
Vijayawada Airport located in Gannavaram with two terminal buildings and a runway is getting ready for international services. The expansion works of the runway are going on at a brisk pace.
Vijayawada: Vijayawada Airport located in Gannavaram with two terminal buildings and a runway is getting ready for international services. The expansion works of the runway are going on at a brisk pace. The Union government had decided to set up immigration office very soon at the airport and customs department has already trained 50 officers and staff to begin services at the airport.
Singapore and Dubai are the two cities to be connected with Vijayawada initially. Singapore airlines came forward to operate two flights every week. Construction of the new sprawling building at a cost of Rs 162 crore changed the outlook of the airport.
The new terminal building was made of steel and glass structure with state-of-art passenger-friendly facilities such as baggage handling system, arrival baggage claim carousels, central air-conditioning, public address system, fire alarm system, flight information display system, CCTV for surveillance and check-in counters with common use terminal equipment.
However, this new terminal will be for domestic purposes because domestic passenger traffic has been increasing manifold in the last two years. The old terminal will be used for international services as passenger traffic will be very less initially. “The airport runway is being expanded from 2286x45 meters to 3360x45 metres at a cost of Rs 150 crore,” said a senior Airport official, who is supervising the development works.
Bigger aircraft can safely land on the runway after the expansion. Moreover, passenger traffic will increase with the launch of international operations. Many NRIs belonging to capital region and neighbouring districts of West Godavari and Prakasam can use the airport for arrivals and departures.
Passenger traffic has crossed 7.50 lakh per year and would increase further in future if the international services are launched. Haj pilgrims of Andhra Pradesh are also exerting pressure on the state government to convince the Central government to launch Air India flights from Vijayawada Airport to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for annual Haj pilgrimage.
Habeebur Rahman, president of the Muslim United Front, said direct flights to Mecca will be very useful to a large number of Muslims living in coastal districts and Rayalaseema region.
