Notwithstanding round-the-clock operations at Visakhapatnam International Airport, passengers coming by the Air India (AI 952) Dubai – Vizag (via Hyderabad) daily flight continue to be detained for one-and-a-half hour at Hyderabad Airport.
It may be recalled that AI 951/952, the first international flight from Vizag to Dubai via Hyderabad, was launched on March 25, 2012. Though 24-hour operations were launched thrice a week a couple of years ago, the shortage of staff came in the way of opening up of the airport.
The watch hours at the airport were extended from 8 a.m. to around midnight to facilitate the launch of the first direct flight of Silk Air from Vizag to Singapore in October 2012.
But of late, domestic flights are arriving at Visakhapatnam much before 8 a.m. but AI 952 continues to arrive at 8 a.m. There is no reason why AI 952 passengers coming to Vizag have to wait for 30 minutes more in Hyderabad.
“I had ordered vegetarian food to be served on board the AI flight but I had to go hungry as they offered non-vegetarian food saying vegetarian was ‘out of stock’. The flight had arrived at 5.45 a.m. in Hyderabad and took off to Vizag in about an hour,” says Vijay Kumar of Vizag, employed in Dubai, who is a frequent flier on AI.
“The turnaround time required would not be more than 45 minutes. When the flight is scheduled to arrive at 5.30 a.m. in Hyderabad, it should leave before 6.30 a.m.,” says Airport Advisory Committee Member O. Naresh Kumar.
“AI 952 is arriving between 5.30 and 5.45 a.m. in Hyderabad and being an international flight, it requires a turnaround time of one hour. We do not have any plans to advance the departure time from Hyderabad, Air India Station Manager Nobert Michael told The Hindu on Monday.
The Visakhapatnam Region of APSRTC has recently introduced new Metro JNNURM buses on the new route No.111 between Visakhapatnam Steel City and Tagarapuvalasa via Gajuwaka, NAD junction, Gurudwara, Maddilapalem and Madhurawada with a frequency of 24 minutes, according to RTC Regional Manager G. Sudesh Kumar.
Metro AC Luxury buses, which are being operated between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, will touch the RTC point inside Visakhapatnam International Airport in both up and down trips, he says.
The AC buses will be a boon to air passengers going to the airport to catch domestic and international flights.
The AC AP Express is an excellent train from Visakhapatnam to New Delhi. “I was surprised at the ‘noiseless’ operation of the train. The quality of food was very good. It rained all through but we had a pleasant journey,” says Rama Rao of Visakhapatnam, who travelled to Nagpur on the inaugural day.
“Passengers got in Rajahmundry, Samalkot, Vijayawada and other stations though the train was launched at short notice. It would be better if the speed is increased and the running time reduced to around 30 hours,” he says.
