Visakhapatman airport is likely see a 10 per cent growth in passenger movement during the current financial year. Last year, it registered a 12.5 per cent growth in passenger movement on the back of new services, C Pattabhi, director, Visakhapatnam Airport, said.
With the expansion of the airport, which saw an investment of Rs 300 crore, private operators are now keen to introduce their services from Vizag. “Some two years ago, only 10-12 flight services operated daily from this airport. But after expansion, 30 flight services are operating daily,” said D Varadha Reddy, president, Air Travelers Association of India.
In 2008-09, passengers from Vizag airport stood at 600,000, which increased to 635,000 in 2009-10 and to 714,000 in 2010-11. In the current year, he said they were expecting more than 800,000 passengers.
Vizag currently has daily direct flight services to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and to Bangalore via Hyderabad. SpiceJet has proposed to operate from Vizag to Tirupati and Raipur while Air India is also planning to start its service from Vizag to Port Blair soon, Reddy said. “The airport has all infrastructure facilities, including night landing, to handle international flights. Hence, we expect one or two international services from here soon,” Pattabhi said.
