CM asks Navy to put restrictions at Vizag airport on hold

Another review meet to be held in the next 15 days

June 22, 2018 01:20 am | Updated 09:39 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewing airport timings with Navy officials in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reviewing airport timings with Navy officials in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has asked the Naval authorities not to talk on restriction of civilian flights at Vizag Airport till he (the Chief Minister) held another review meet on the issue in the next 15 days.

Mr. Naidu held a review meeting with the Navy officials at the airport here on Thursday in view of the proposal of the Navy to restrict civilian flights from November 1.

Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman MT Krishna Babu, Airport Director G. Prakash Reddy were among those who attended the meeting.

AP Air Travellers’ Association representative O. Naresh Kumar apprised the Chief Minister that restricting civilian flights for three hours a day would affect the movement of 2,400 passengers a day.

The ENC Chief told the Chief Minister that dedicated flying slots for military aircraft was there at Goa and Pune airports also. He suggested that instead of three hours in the morning, the military flying slots could be for two hours in the morning and two in the evening.

At this point, Minister for HRD Ganta Srinivasa Rao intervened and wondered as to why the military slots should be increased by another hour.

The Chief Minister said he would not allow restrictions on civilian flights at the airport and asked the Navy to build a parallel runway by taking land from the Port. The Port Chairman agreed to give advance possession of land to the Navy for building the parallel runway at the airport.

When the Navy officials said that it would take three years to build a parallel runway, the Chief Minister said that it should not take more than a year.

The Chief Minister told them: “If you take that long, you would have to defer your plan to restrict civil flights”. When the APATA representatives brought to Chief Minister’s notice that SriLankan Airlines would be affected by the restrictions, the ENC Chief agreed to allow the Vizag – Colombo flight even during the restricted hours, according to sources.

Toll charges

The Chief Minister said he would not allow the interests of Vizag city to be compromised. On the doubling of toll charges on the Port Connectivity Road, he asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Port to put the hike on hold for at least a year in view of the diversion of traffic due to the flyover work at NAD Kotha Road junction.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.