Tirupati, which attracts a large number of pilgrims to the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, will get directly connected by air to the United States and to Dubai from June.
Air India will operate flights to these locations, and the US cities to be served are to be announced shortly. Initially, there would be one flight a day, and services could be scaled up based on demand, Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy, Infrastructure and Investments, told the media here on Tuesday.
Immigration and Customs facilities will be opened at Tirupati airport.
International stopover flights are expected to help pilgrims coming to Tirumala hills, avoiding the need to go via Chennai. It will be possible to go through travel formalities at Tirupati and take a stopover flight originating from Chennai or other cities.
Work in progress
Work on opening of airports at Dagadarthi, Orvakallu, Donakonda, Nagarjunasagar, and Bhogapuram is “progressing well,” the Principal Secretary said.
There was a 48 per cent growth in air passenger traffic at Tirupati airport last year, official data show.
Other airports such as Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada also had a rise in passenger movement.
While Rajahmundry had 44 per cent growth, it was 64 per cent for Visakhapatnam, and 69 per cent for Gannavaram (Vijayawada).
Andhra Pradesh has registered a steady increase in passenger traffic: against the average national figure of 17 per cent, Andhra Pradesh stood at 61 per cent, Mr. Jain said. Airports in Andhra Pradesh handled 17.8 lakh passengers during 2014-15 and it was expected that the volume would cross 28.40 lakh passengers this year.
The government could achieve this through “expansion of airports, increase in flights and services.”
The interim terminal building of Vijayawada airport at Gannavaram would be completed before the Krishna pushkarams (Krishna river festival). Work on airports at Dagadarthi, Orvakallu, Donakonda, Nagarjunasagar, and Bhogapuram was progressing well. Once Bhogapuram airport was completed, Visakhapatnam, which is under the Navy, would be closed down, he said.
The government’s plans to construct the Bhogapuram airport would add a strategically located infrastructure facility in Andhra Pradesh.
