Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari, who represents Visakhapatnam in the Lok Sabha, has written letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh seeking introduction of 24-hour operations at Visakhapatnam Airport at the earliest.
She noted that Silk Air has come up with the proposal to start Visakhapatnam – Singapore flights from October 1, 2012. The proposed arrival and departure timings of the flight are 10.05 p.m. and 10.55 p.m. (IST) and hence the present 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. operation of the airport would make it impossible for Silk Air to start operations from Visakhapatnam.
Ms. Purandeswari noted that the airport was managed by the Indian Navy and recently a proposal for creation of additional posts, required for round-the-clock operations at Vizag Airport, was sent from the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Finance.
The proposal was negated by the Ministry of Finance saying there was a ban on creation of new posts.
She appealed to the Prime Minister to view the creation of additional posts from a different perspective of economic development of the region and accept the same. She said that the airport development in Visakhapatnam was directly related to infrastructure development and economic transformation of the area and hence it was necessary for the government to give the push in providing infrastructure to private operators.
