Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry D. Purandeswari has asked the Eastern Naval Command to expedite the process of launching 24x7 operations at the INS Dega airport here. In a letter to Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer ommanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, she said technical staff had been sanctioned about nine months ago to meet the need for additional hands at the airport.
By now they might have been trained, she said and pointed out how foreign airlines from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Sharjah had evinced interest in introducing flight service to Visakhapatnam.
International flights are now being operated to Dubai and Singapore.
Ms. Purandeswari said for promoting trade and commerce internationally, better connectivity was required and urged Vice-Admiral Chopra to instruct the officials to speed up work for making the airport operational round the clock.
