Vijayawada Airport continues to fly high

Registers 61% passenger movement growth; authorities aim for one million mark

A view of the interior of the new terminal of Vijayawada Airport at Gannavaram.

Continuing the trend in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movement post the announcement of State’s capital region, the Vijayawada Airport in Gannavaram has achieved a remarkable annual growth during the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The airport witnessed the movement of 6,50,463 lakh passengers between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017, according to Airport Director Giri Madhusudana Rao.

‘Highest growth rate’

“The airport registered 61% growth in the passenger movement and it is the highest growth rate in the country. Last year, the growth was 70% with around 4 lakh passenger movement,” Mr. Rao told The Hindu .

On other statistics, Mr. Rao said 51% growth was registered in the aircraft movement.

In the recent fiscal year, the airport handled 11,631 aircraft while the figure was 7,710 in the previous year. In both the cases, growth had been constant since 2013.

The average number of flight movements per day rose to 32 in 2016-17 from 21 in 2015-16.

“We are expecting the passenger traffic to cross one million in the current fiscal year and join the one million club of domestic airports in the country. Drop in flight services by a couple of airlines may have an impact on the air and passenger traffic currently but we are sure that other airlines will increase the services and meet the passenger demand,” Mr. Rao added.

The majority of the passengers commute between Vijayawada and Hyderabad followed by Bengaluru and Chennai.