Development of Vizag airport in full swing: ATA

Chennai, Nov 5 (UNI) The ongoing Rs 300 crore development cum expansion work at Vizag airport is in full swing and the extension of runway from the present 6,500 feet to 10,000 feet is expected to be completed by next month, according to Air Travellers Association of India (ATA) President D Varada Reddy.

Mr Reddy, who was here in connection with the two-day seminar on 'Air connect and Road show on North Coastal of Andhra Pradesh', which commences here tomorrow, told newspersons today that apart from the runway extension work, the Vizag airport would get night landing and instrument landing facility simultaneously.

He said once the extension work of the runway was completed, the Vizag airport would be in a position to handle big aircrafts namely Airbus 320, Boeing 767 and above.

The Vizag airport now had flight services to Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New delhi.

Apart from providing direct flights between Vizag and Singapore, Kualalumpur, Bangkok and Colombo, efforts are on to provide connectivity to Kolkata, Varanasi, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Goa, Cochin, Port blair and Coimbatore, he said.

He said the new terminal building at Vizag airport would be ready by January 2008.

To a question, Mr Reddy said the ATA had submitted a memorandum to Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel who had visited Rajahmundry recently, for developing the existing airports at Rajmundhry and Vijayawada.

Mr Patel had assured that the Ministry would look in to the matter soon, he added.

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