No new flights will be allowed between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Visakhapatnam International Airport, if the proposed restrictions on operation of commercial flights, to come into effect from Nov 1, are any indication. Navy officials had agreed to reduce the number of exclusive military flying slots from the originally proposed 5 hours to 3 hours after a hue and cry was raised by air travellers. The Navy had agreed to have dedicated military slots only between 9.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
The Eastern Naval Command (ENC) Chief had assured Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during a meeting convened by the latter that international flights would be allowed even during the military slots.
It was proposed to have mixed operations for civil and military flights from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at a meeting organised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with officials of the Indian Navy and scheduled domestic airline operators on June 15 in New Delhi .
Though existing flights will not be curtailed, military flights will be accorded priority, and the meeting proposed not to allow new flights during those two hours.
New service cancelled
“Jet Airways has announced operation of an evening flight to Delhi but withdrew it from its website after the Airport Consultative Committee meeting in Delhi. The airline operators have to announce their schedules six months in advance. The airline officials have confirmed withdrawal of the flight in view of the uncertainty,” AP Air Travellers’ Association (APATA) representative O. Naresh Kumar said.
“The airline agreed to operate an evening flight to Delhi following intense lobbying by our association for the last six months. The Jet Airways flight will come to Vizag from Mumbai at 8 p.m. and take-off to Delhi at 8.30 p.m. This is very convenient to passengers from Vizag, who wish to take onward international connections to various destinations,” he said.
“The meeting had only asked airline operators to avoid new flights during the mixed slot in the evenings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jet Airways agreed to reconsider their decision on our plea,” Airport Director G. Prakash Reddy said when contacted by The Hindu .
“MP Kambhampati Haribabu agreed to convene another meet with the airline operators on July 7 to convince them on the issues at the airport,” he said.
“The confusion on the restriction of flying hours is leading to chaos leading to pull out by some airline operators and others hesitating to start operations from Vizag. I hope that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s intervention and seeking lifting of all restrictions on civilian flights, will prevail,” said APATA representative D.S. Varma.
Published - June 26, 2018 01:04 am IST
