Two airports demand turns louder as ‘row’ over Bhogapuram deepens
GMR Group agreement has a condition that once Bhogapuram becomes operational, Visakhapatnam International Airport will shut down
Inside view of passenger terminal at Bhogapuram International Airport, 40 km from Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam: Even as the recent successful landing and takeoff of validation flight at greenfield Bhogapuram International Airport triggered a war of claims among the ruling TDP and its allies and the Opposition YSRCP, another demand for continuation of Visakhapatnam International Airport is turning louder.
Sharpening the attack on YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Botcha Satyanarayana over their claim that they are responsible for getting clearances and initiating the work on Bhogapuram airport, the ruling alliance lampooned the claim and made a counter-allegation that Jagan himself had questioned the land acquisition when he was the Leader of Opposition asking why there was a need for another airport when Visakhapatnam International Airport is functioning very well.
Meanwhile, the supporters of two airports for Visakhapatnam region contend that Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are becoming multi-airport cities with greenfield Navi Mumbai and NOIDA International Airports easing the load. Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said recently that the 150-km radius rule does not hold good once an existing airport capacity saturates. He said the Centre will permit a second airport for any city to meet its growing needs on a 'case to case' basis exempting the restriction not to allow another airport within a distance of 150-km radius of an existing airport.
He said despite huge potential, the number of fleet and airports in India is very less though China and America each have around 4,000 aircraft. India as of today has just 843 aircraft necessitating the need to expand the airport infrastructure with MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) facilities to allow more wide bodied aircraft.
Even before the launch of test flight to Bhogapuram International Airport, being developed by GMR Group with awarding L&T as the EPC contractor for the Rs4,600-crore first phase project, Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers Association (APATA) insisted on continuing the Visakhapatnam International Airport alongside the Bhogapuram International Airport, named as Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport. Due to its growing needs, the dual airport should continue even though Visakhapatnam Airport is a civil enclave located on INS Dega airbase of the Indian Navy.
APATA president D Kumara Raja and vice-presidents DS Varma and O Naresh Kumar buttress their claim by citing the instance of Goa , where Dabolim and Manohar International Airports are being operated successfully. Enquiries by Bizz Buzz confirmed that in the concession agreement signed with GMR Group, there is a condition that once Bhogapuram becomes commercially operational, Visakhapatnam International Airport will shut down for civilian aircraft.
Naresh Kumar, who is a member of Airports Advisory Committee, told Bizz Buzz that for an estimated one lakh employees working at various industrial and pharma companies towards Duvvada, Parawada and Atchutapuram, it is very difficult to reach Bhogapuram, which is 40 km away from the city centre. He said some flights should continue from Visakhapatnam Airport for public convenience while increasing the number of flights at the greenfield airport and prioritising addressing the connectivity issues to Bhogapuram from Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Viziangaram.
It may be recalled here that in 2018, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had informed the State Government in writing that due to heavy investments made for civilian aircraft operations at Visakhapatnam International Airport, they were not in favour of closing it for commercial flights.
With Andhra Pradesh's thrust on speed of doing business helping it to corner 25.3 per cent of India's FY26 investments, the supporters of dual airport say Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER), comprising nine districts, being implemented by the State Government with the support of NITI Aayog, aims to transform into a $125 to $135 billion economy by 2032-35 driven by port-led development and several big ticket projects getting grounded in the area..This will further lead to increase in the number of air traffic.
