The Navy has agreed in principle to extend the watch hours at Visakhapatnam Airport from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. to facilitate the introduction of the Silk Air flight to Singapore from October 1. Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, gave this assurance to Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari when she met him here on Friday.
Ms. Purandeswari appealed to him to accord permission from the Navy to extend the timings by three hours for three days a week to facilitate introduction of the international flight.
Vice Admiral Anil Chopra was very positive and accorded ‘no objection’ to the proposal but since manpower was in short supply requested the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide the same until final clearance come from the AAI.
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He said the Navy would extend logistical support.
Ms. Purandeswari requested Airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao to explore the possibility and give immediate clearance to Silk Air to start their operations from Visakhapatnam.
She said the route navigation charges and parking fee at the airport could be temporarily used for paying the manpower.
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She also offered funds from her MPLADS to create the extra employment and also to put the city on the international map without any further delay.
The positive development is expected to bring more international airlines to Visakhapatnam. Silk Air will announce its ticket sales and bookings shortly.
The airport is also expected to get 24/7 operations soon as both the Ministry of HRD and the Ministry of Defence are actively pursuing the matter with the Prime Minister’s Office and the AAI.