For Visakhapatnam, which boasts of a national highway, a major railway junction and one of the best ports, lack of good air transport facility is a drawback. The City of Destiny, as a result, lags far behind not only in terms of passenger travel but also cargo transportation. And for some strange reason, expansion works of the airport are progressing at a snailÂ’s pace notwithstanding promises from all stakeholders.
Originally set up for defence purposes, Visakhapatnam Airport is the second busiest airport in Andhra Pradesh after Hyderabad, the State capital. It bagged the Best Airport Award in tier two category from the Union Tourism Ministry last month.
At present, the airport handles 16 arrivals and departures every day. The airport has been developed with a new terminal building functioning with an expanded runway of 10,500 sft. Night landing facility with instrument landing system is also in place.
The proposed expansion works for conversion of the old terminal building into a cargo handling terminal with Rs 1.6 crore are progressing at a slow pace. Under the proposed project, the height of the terminal should be increased apart from adding cold storage capacity that could boost exports and imports of several products.
Though some cargo was exported to Singapore in March this year, the facilities do not meet the requirements for bulk cargo exports. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has agreed to set up a full-fledged cargo handling terminal. It would be a boon for exporting various products from Visakhapatnam particularly seafood, flowers, pharma, and other goods.
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