The Defence Ministry has approved the deployment of more than 380 officers and sailors of the Navy at its base in Vishakhapatnam for enabling round-the-clock operations at the military and civilian airport there.
“The Defence Ministry has sanctioned additional manpower of 24 officers, 356 sailors and 27 civilians for INS Dega at Vishakhapatnam for ensuring that the airport is operational on a 24X7 basis,” Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said here.
The airport, which is under the Navy, is operational only for 12-hours every day at present and there is an increasing demand for extending the flying hours in both civil and military spheres.
Recently, Minister of State for Defence M. M. Pallam Raju had said that his Ministry has given its nod for operation of international flights from the Vishakhapatanam airport which is under the control of the Navy.
He said the timing of flight operations has been extended by three hours and international flights will start operating from October 1.
Kar said with the increased number of flight operations from the city, it is expected that its connectivity with the rest of the world and the country would improve considerably. - PTI
Visakhapatnam Staff Reporter adds:
A communication to this effect was received by Union Minister of State for HRD Ms. Purandeswari who has been pursuing the case of 24-hour operation of Vizag Airport with the Civil Aviation, Defence and Finance Ministries for more than two years now.
During this period she had written more than 50 letters to various dignitaries, including the Civil Aviation Minister, the Finance Minister, the Defence Minister and the Prime Minister of India and met them at least thrice in this regard, according to a statement issued by the Visakhapatnam Air Travellers Association (VATA). At all the meetings, she got positive response ensuring that 24-hour operations at Vizag Airport would soon become a reality. With the Finance Ministry clearing the proposal, the Defence Ministry will now go ahead with the recruitment process.
Ms. Purandeswari expressed her gratitude to the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister for their approvals and expressed optimism that this would be provided the much-needed impetus for the development of Visakhapatnam region.
