Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has asked the Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu to look into the establishment of a Civil Aviation University in Visakhapatnam and to make the Vijayawada International Airport more attractive. The CM held a review meeting on the progress of the construction of the Vijayawada International Airport terminal buildings at the Velagapudi Secretariat on Wednesday.
Union Minister Rammohan Naidu, AAI Chairman and officials attended the meeting virtually. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that attention should be paid to international connectivity from various airports in the state, including Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, to various cities in the country.
He said that a ramp should be constructed to connect the terminal building and the national highway. Moreover, he suggested that the terminal building elevation, departure, arrival block, passenger area should be designed to reflect the culture and traditions of Andhra Pradesh. The CM ordered designs with Kuchipudi, Kondapalli dolls, Amaravati symbols, and Lepakshi artwork.
Chandrababu also informed the Union Minister about the progress of the terminal building construction in Kadapa and Rajahmundry. He said that the technical feasibility report of the Palasa airports in Dagadarthi, Kuppam, and Srikakulam districts is being conducted in Amaravati and the land survey for the airport is being done, and the RITES team will submit a report on this soon.
Union Minister Rammohan Naidu said that the project will be taken up within two years if the land pooling process is completed. He explained that operations from Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam have increased by 40 percent. He said that operators are coming forward to increase connectivity to various cities domestically from Vijayawada, Tirupati, Rajahmundry, and Kurnool airports.
The Union Minister said that TruJet has come forward to operate services from Visakhapatnam to various places from October. He said that services between Vijayawada- Singapore- Muscat will be started soon. He explained that seaplane operations will also start after September. He explained that Qatar Aviation is interested in investing at Bhogapuram Airport.