TIRUPATI: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will pump in investments to the tune of ₹17,500 crore to improve civil aviation infrastructure in the next five years, Union Minister for Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapati Raju has said.
Speaking to the media after participating in the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on civil aviation here on Monday, Mr. Raju said that the Gannavaram airport expansion work was on at a brisk pace in an extent of 800 acres of land.
Visakhapatnam would also get connectivity to some more destinations across the country soon, he said.
Air traffic in Andhra Pradesh increased by a huge 59% compared to 17% at the national level, he said.
The airport-wise break-up in the State is as follows: Tirupati (49%), Rajamahendravaram (39%), Visakhapatnam (62%), and Vijayawada (75%).
He expressed confidence that the air traffic would see a steady rise in future. “As an international airport, Tirupati will now have seven bays to accommodate seven flights, unlike the two in the past,” he said.
MPs Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, Praful Patel, S. Rajendran, Jitendra Chaudhary, and Chandrakant Patil, and Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Chaubey participated as panel members.
Officials Anil Srivastava, Ankur Garg, V. Appa Rao, N. Srinivasa Rao, and Tirupati Airport Director H. Pulla took part.
