International airport for Visakhapatnam soon

Visakhapatnam,Oct20:As Visakhapatnam gets into the fast lane,with several new industrial projects coming up and IT companies flocking to the city,its airport needs better facilities.It may be recalled that the state government had announced its intention of going for an international airport at Visakhapatnam in place of the present civilian airport,which is controlled by the Eastern Naval Command,owing to a large industrial corridor being developed between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam.Two large multi-product special economic zones (SEZs), a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), and two oil refineries among other projects have been proposed in this region that could potentially attract a huge international air traffic to the city of Visakhapatnam and Kakinada.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had conducted a site location feasibility study for the international airport at Visakhapatnam and the site had been finalised near Rayavaram.Visakhapatnam is connected to Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and New Delhi via Raipur. Fifty-four flights operate in a week and 3 lakh passengers travelled through the airport here. Shortly, direct flights to Port Blair and Bangalore are expected.Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has expressed its willingness to operate flights directly from Visakhapatnam to Singapore, it is learnt. Malaysian, Sri Lankan and Thai airlines are also evincing interest in Vizag besides domestic private airline operators such as Kingfisher Airlines.