Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Tuesday said the Central government had reshaped the ecosystem to make the aviation sector in the country the third largest market in the world by bringing about a remarkable improvement in its ranking.
Mr. Gajapathi Raju was speaking after inaugurating the international air cargo complex here in the presence of Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu, CEO and Executive Director of GSEC (O&M agency) Samir Mankad, CMD Rakesh Shah, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of AP Trade Promotion Corporation (APTPC) M. Sadhu Sundar and Director of Visakhapatnam International Airport G. Prakash Reddy.
“Before the NDA formed the government, it was ranked 13th from the bottom. During 70 years after Independence, only 71 airports had scheduled flights. We have created 80 airports in past three and a half years improving the connectivity,” he said. A long-awaited demand, the complex is spread over 674.64 square metres at the old terminal with facilities such as cold room for pharmaceutical and perishable products, strong room for valuable cargo, X-ray machine, explosive trace detector (ETD), CCTV cameras, material handling, and fire-fighting infrastructure. The complex is fully compliant with Customs as well as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.
The facility is expected to give a boost to export of pharmaceuticals, seafood, garments and metallurgical products. Initially, the complex will handle five tonnes per day.
The Minister said their focus was on improving rural connectivity and offering the luxury of flying from one place to another to all sections of society.
Mr. Haribabu in his remarks recalled how the airport was developed in phases and mentioned that the work on six parking bays was almost complete and once they were open for night-time parking of aircraft, the operators could introduce late night and early morning flights to various destinations.
