Six new flights are likely to get added in the winter schedule of the Visakhapatnam airport with various airlines proposing to add new services, which require formal clearance of Director General of Civil Aviation and Indian Navy.
Visakhapatnam airport, which serves needs of domestic passengers from Chattisgarh, southern Orissa, and North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, currently handles 12 flights a day, but it will be augmented by six new ones in the winter Schedule beginning Sept1.
The airport currently operates only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. due to restrictions imposed by the Indian Navy for night operations for lack of skilled trained personnel to operate the Air Traffic Control. Currently 97 personnel man the Visakhapatnam Airport through its INS Dega establishment. There has been a demand from the Indian Navy authorities here to increase the trained manpower by 132 personnel.
Goa Airport ATC, which is also manned by the Navy, has manpower of 420 and the recent demand from the Navy has been to augment it in Visakhapatnam too by 320 personnel.
New flights that would get added are: Jetlite flight from Chennai to Visakhapatnam and back to Chennai in the morning; Spicejet flight from Chennai to Kolkata via Visakhapatnam and in the return direction from Kolkata to Chennai via Visakhapatnam again in the morning hours. In the afternoon Jetlite proposes to operate in the Kolkata – Visakhapatnam – Kolkata sector and in the evening from Kolkata to Chennai via Visakhapatnam.
The Jetlite also proposes another flight in the evening between Kolkata and Visakhapatnam in both directions, while Jet Airways proposes to operate a direct flight between Delhi and Visakhapatnam with 9.30 a.m. departure in Delhi and arriving here by 11.30 a.m. and leaving for Delhi again by noon to reach there within two hours.
Visakhapatnam currently has Spicejet flight from Mumbai to Visakahapatnam via Hyderabad and back to Delhi again via Hyderabad. It follows same route on its way back to reach Mumbai from Delhi.
Air India operates between Delhi and Chennai via Visakhapatnam.
Kingfisher operates Chennai to Visakhapatnam and back to Chennai. Another flight operates between Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in both directions and goes up to Bangalore in the return direction. Jetlite currently has Kolkata to Chennai via Visakhapatnam and on its way back from Chennai it goes to Delhi via Visakhapatnam. From Delhi it goes to Kolkata via Visakhapatnam.
