Vijayawada Airport

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File:Vijayawada Airport 7 (November 2018).jpg
Name board at the airport

Vijayawada Airport (Template:Comma separated entries), officially known as Vijayawada International Airport, is an international airport serving Vijayawada, the second-largest city of the state of Andhra Pradesh, the under-development capital city of the state, Amaravati and the surrounding Andhra Pradesh Capital Region (APCA) in India. The airport is located at Gannavaram, located Template:Cvt away from Vijayawada and Template:Cvt from Amaravati.[1][2][3][4] The airport was declared and upgraded to handle international operations in May 2017, and since then, it has witnessed significant growth in both passenger and cargo traffic.[5]

A new and larger passenger terminal beside the existing terminal is being constructed to cater to the rising traffic and demand, whose construction began in December 2018 after its foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in October 2015.[6][7] However, due to land acquisition issues and shortage of labour caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project got delayed by over eight years from its supposed completion deadline of 15 months by January/February 2017. Therefore, the new terminal is now estimated to be finished by June/July 2025.[8][9]

History

The airfield located at Gannavaram served as an army base during the World War II, after which it was converted into a civilian airport. Air Deccan introduced a daily service between Hyderabad and Vijayawada in September 2003.[10] Until 2011, the airport had only four flights a day operated by Kingfisher Airlines.[11] In 2011, flag carrier Air India and private airlines Spicejet and Jet Airways introduced direct flights to the airport, but the latter terminated its service. Air Costa, a regional airline started operations in October 2013, with Vijayawada as its operational hub, which later suspended services.

To cater to the increasing passenger traffic, the foundation stone for a new interim terminal building was laid in October 2015.[12] The terminal, designed to handle two million passengers per annum was opened on 12 January 2017. It was expected to be sufficient for passenger needs for the next four-five years until a larger integrated terminal was built.[13] After domestic operations were shifted to the interim terminal, the old airport terminal building was closed and was prepared to handle international services. The terminal was equipped with a customs and immigration section and additional facilities and security arrangements.[14]

The Central Government granted international status to the airport on 3 May 2017.[15] However, it was only after the state government offered viability gap funding (VGF) to airlines for operating international flights, that private operator IndiGo bid for the contract to operate two flights a week to Singapore.[16]

On 4 December 2018, Indigo flight 6E 33 departed for Singapore Changi Airport,[17] marking the inaugural international flight for Vijayawada and getting an international footprint for Vijayawada.[18] The flight was terminated in July 2019 after the six-month VGF agreement lapsed and the state government refused to extend the agreement.[19]

Expansion

A brand new integrated terminal building is under construction ever since its foundation stone was laid by the then Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on 4 December 2018. The 35,000m² (376,700 ft²) steel and glass structure is being developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at an estimated cost of ₹ 611 crores (US$86 million). The new terminal is being designed for peak daily handling of 1,200 (600 domestic and 400 international) passengers, with 24 check-in counters, five conveyor belts, 14 immigration counters, three customs counters, and eight gates and six aerobridges, which can accommodate large widebody aircraft, such as the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747. The new terminal's parking facilities will accommodate an additional 1,250 automobiles.[20][21]

As of July 2024, 48.5% work on the new terminal has been completed and it is expected to be completed by June 2025.[22][23]

File:Panorama of Vijayawada Airport 1 (November 2018).jpg
Panorama of new terminal

Facilities

Structure

The airport is spread over 1265 acres. Initially, it was spread over 567, and later 698 acres were pooled from adjoining villages.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". It has 24 parking bays for A320, B737, ATR-72, and Bombardier Q400.[24]

Runways

The airport has one runway:

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The airport's runway can handle both narrow and wide body aircraft.[25]

Terminal

The interim terminal spreads over 12,999 square metres and includes a check-in area, arrival hall, meet and greet service staircase, aviation lounge, and baggage pick up area. The lounge is spread over 3,613 square metres. The terminal can handle up to 500 passengers at a time and has 18 check-in counters ,2 conveyor belts, 6 gates .[26]

Transport

Vijayawada Airport is located on National Highway 16 which connects Chennai to Kolkata. APSRTC runs AIRPORT Liner City Bus from PNBS, and the airport cab services, Ola Cabs, Uber, and Rapido services are available to explore the city and as well as to reach Vijayawada Junction, Pandit Nehru Bus Station, and all major parts of the city and the state.

Airlines and destinations

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Statistics

Template:Airport-Statistics

Annual domestic passenger traffic and aircraft movements at Vijayawada Airport
Year Domestic passenger traffic Domestic aircraft movements
Passengers Percent
change 		Aircraft
movements 		Percent
change
2024–25
2023–24 1,025,734[27] Template:Change 14,934[28] Template:Change
2022–23 929,765[29] Template:Change 14,300[30] Template:Change
2021–22 579,111[31] Template:Change 8,833[32] Template:Change
2020–21 434,737[33] Template:Change 6,863[34] Template:Change
2019–20 1,125,551[35] Template:Change 15,190[36] Template:Change
2018–19 1,178,559[37] Template:Change 18,957[38] Template:Change
2017–18 746,392[39] Template:Change 11,999[40] Template:Change
2016–17 622,354[41] Template:Change 10,333[42] Template:Change
2015–16 398,643[43] Template:Change 6,676[44] Template:Change
2014–15 231,931[43] NA 4,639[44] NA

Accidents and incidents

  • On 28 August 1980, Vickers Viscount VT-DJC of Huns Air was damaged beyond economic repair when the nosewheel collapsed after the aircraft bounced three times on landing.[45]
  • On 20 February 2021, an Air India Express aircraft was involved in ground incident, the aircraft wing impacted a floodlight pole while taxiing. No injuries were reported.[46][47]

See also

References

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External links

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