Visakhapatnam Airport

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Visakhapatnam International Airport
INS Dega
Visakhapatnam Airport Terminal
IATA: VTZ – ICAO: VOVZ
VTZ
Location of airport in India
Summary
Airport type Military/Public
Owner Indian Navy
Airports Authority of India
Operator Indian Navy
Airports Authority of India
Serves Visakhapatnam
Location Kakani Nagar
Elevation AMSL 15 ft / 5 m
Coordinates 17°43′16″N 083°13′28″E / 17.72111°N 83.22444°E / 17.72111; 83.22444
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 6,000 1,828.8 Asphalt
10/28 10,500 3,200 Asphalt
Statistics (Apr'2011 - Mar'2012)
Passenger movements 9,58,160
Aircraft movements 15,488
Source: AAI[1][2]

Visakhapatnam Airport (IATA: VTZ, ICAO: VOVZ) is a international airport serving the Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located approximately 12 km (7.5 mi) from Visakhapatnam and is the second busiest airport in Andhra Pradesh after Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. It is controlled by the Indian Navy, which carries out air traffic control support for both military and civil traffic. The airport has experienced mass growth in the last decade, with the construction of a new terminal and runway, and the implementation of international routes to Dubai and Singapore.[3] The Airport is a non-towered airport, but has an air traffic control system in presence. Controllers are ground-based and direct aircraft movements via radio and other communication links. The airport's new terminal building has 3 Jet bridges.

History

Visakhapatnam Airport Old Terminal

Prior to redevelopment, the airport saw low numbers of air traffic: in 1999 it was served with only one daily flight. On Jun 16, 2007, T. Subbarami Reddy, the then Union Minister announced that the Airport was fully prepared for international flights. A new and extended runway was built to land the Airbus A320 aircraft operated by Air Deccan. There were appeals to make Vizag airport an International Airport ever since then.[4] Immediately the next month, JetLite and Air Deccan started flights to Visakhapatnam.[5] Union minister of state for HRD, D.Purandeswari announced that after discussions with the defence minister M.M.Pallam Raju and Airport Authority of India, a decision has been made, so as to begin international and intercontinental operations from Visakhapatnam Airport.[6]

A new terminal building was inaugurated on 20 February 2009.[7] Howerver, it was not operational until on 27 March 2009, when the landing of a JetLite airliner from Delhi marked the commencement of operations from the new integrated terminal building complex at the airport. The runway in use was originally 6,000 ft (1,800 m). The Indian Union Minister of State for Mines T Subbirami Reddy inaugurated the newly constructed 10,500 ft (3,200 m) and 60 m (200 ft) wide runway at the Vizag Airport on 15 June 2007. With the installation and calibration of the instrument landing system, Visakhapatnam got night landing capabilities in July 2007, with the Dornier of the Indian Navy taking off from the new landing facility. The night landing facility became operational from 30 March 2008 for commercial airlines with SpiceJet being the first airline to use the facility. A memorandum of understanding between the Airports Authority of India and Sathyabama University was signed to start a Flying Club and Aeronautical Institute at the airport.

International expansion

In January 2012, the state-run national flag carrier Air India announced that they would begin operations between Dubai and Visakhapatnam via Hyderabad from March 25, 2012. The Union government announced that more carriers like IndiGo and Air Arabia would begin operations international soon.[8] Though a significant growth of domestic flights landing at Visakhapatnam, there have been no international flights to the region for a very long period of time. On November 18, 2011, 'The Hindu BusinessLine' reported that operating international flights required the airline operators to produced a written consent. However, the airline operators plea that the airport needs to being round-the-clock operations first.[9] Previously, SilkAir expressed interest in the airport, however they required an overnight slot which was nor arranged by the naval authorities resulting in the airline losing faith in the airport.[10] Finally on January 21, 2012, The Indian navy announced that they will appoint trained professionals and gather all the equipment for round-the-clock operations at the airport which allows international flights to acquire parking lots.[11]

On February 3, 2012, The director of the Airports Authority of India announced that the First international flight from Visakhapatnam Airport, Air India(AI) Flight 951 would takeoff to Dubai International Airport on March 25, 2012. The bookings were opened both on the Air India Website and also at the airports. It was announced that the inspection of the airport was done and Visakhapatnam was listed as an International Airport. Air India announced the flight numbers as AI951 (Visakhapatnam-Dubai) and AI952 (Dubai-Visakhapatnam), both via Hyderabad International Airport.[12] The inaugural flight from Visakhapatnam was sold in seconds after the bookings started on the Air India Website. The Times of India announced that Singapore Airlines agreed on starting a direct flight from Visakhapatnam International Airport to Singapore Changi International Airport.[13] On October 19, Silkair, the subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, became the second international airline to operate flights from Visakhapatnam, with direct services to Singapore.[14]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Air IndiaDelhi, Dubai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Raipur
IndiGoBhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata,Mumbai
Jet AirwaysAhmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai
Jet KonnectBengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata
SpiceJetBengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai
Silk AirSingapore

Accidents and incidents

The rear end of Vizag Airport at the time of construction
  • October 2005: a mild tropical storm hit the region and caused heavy rain, causing significant flooding and wind shear. The Meghadrigedda Reservoir on the outskirts of the city overflew and flooded the airport during the storm. As a result, the airport was closed for sixteen days. The lack of an Instrument Landing System at the time was believed to worsen the situation.[15]
  • February 2007: Cyclone Yemyin swept through the area resulting in instant flooding, closing the airport for a day.[16]
  • 12 May 12, 2007: a Paramount Airways Embraer E-170 aircraft carrying 60 passengers overshot the runway upon landing. The aircraft was operating from Chennai Airport, via Hyderabad. The aircraft was not damaged in the incident as it was caught in a 'soft ground arrester', which kept it from sliding into National Highway 5. Airport officials claimed that the crash was caused by pilot error in preparing the aircraft for a landing flare.[17]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.aai.aero/traffic_news/mar2k12annex2.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.aai.aero/traffic_news/mar2k12annex3.pdf
  3. ↑ "Vizag airport terminal to be inaugurated on Feb 20". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 23 January 2012. 
  4. ↑ "Andhra Pradesh". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 January 2012. 
  5. ↑ "Now, flying to Malaysia to get cheaper". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 January 2012. 
  6. ↑ "International status for Vizag airport soon". NDTV. Retrieved 22 January 2012. 
  7. ↑ "Vizag airport terminal to be inaugurated on Feb 20". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 23 January 2012. 
  8. ↑ "Visakhapatnam-Dubai flight from March 27". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 22 January 2012. 
  9. ↑ "Vizag airport waiting for 24-hour operations, flights - November Report". The Hindu BusinessLine. Retrieved 23 January 2012. 
  10. ↑ "Vizag airport waits endlessly for 24-hour operations". The Hindu BusinessLine. Retrieved 23 January 2012. 
  11. ↑ "Huge funds for defence: Minister". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 24 January 2012. 
  12. ↑ "State govt set to sign MoU for Machilipatnam port". Business Standard. Retrieved 7 February 2012. 
  13. ↑ "International flights from Vizag in March". The Times of India (TOI). Retrieved 8 February 2012. 
  14. ↑ "SilkAir launches first direct flight between Singapore and Visakhapatnam". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 January 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Flights land in Vizag airport, finally". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 February 2012. 
  16. ↑ "Heavy rain in Andhra Pradesh leaves 28 persons dead". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 February 2012. 
  17. ↑ "Aircraft overshoots runway". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 February 2012. 

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