KADAPA: Flights to Vijayawada from Kadapa commenced from Thursday, with TruJet launching its third service, after putting Hyderabad and Chennai from Kadapa on its map. Kadapa airport director P Sivaprasad formally launched the services at a formal programme. The new service has come as a boon and time-saver for people who visit Vijayawada,which is the nearest airport to the capital city Amaravati.
Till now they had to go to either Tirupati or Chennai to catch a flight to Vijayawada. It was time-consuming and a costly affair. Now, with the new flight service, those in Kadapa, Nellore, and Anantapur can utilise the direct flight services to Kadapa, saving both money and time.
“It is a welcome development and the timings are also pretty good. We can board the flight here at 9:30 am and reach Vijayawada city by 10:35. This way we can take care the official work in the capital city. It is more convenient,” said B Nagabhushan from Kadapa, who boarded the maiden flight to Vijayawada.
According to Trujet Head (Operations) A Prasad, there is a good response to Kadapa-Vijayawada flight service. On the first day, 90 percent of seats were booked. He said they are also operating flights via Kadapa to Chennai and Mysore. “The occupancy rate for Kadapa-Hyderabad flight service is 81 percent, while it is 72 percent for Kadapa-Chennai flight,” he explained.
Speaking on the occasion, Kadapa airport director P Sivaprasad said under Udan Regional Connectivity Scheme, the air services from Kadapa airport commenced on April 27, 2017. Trujet, which bagged the contract to operate services from Kadapa to various destinations under the scheme for five years launched the first flight service to Hyderabad and to Chennai later.
“In the last eight months, 30,000 people have utilised the air travel facility from Kadapa. For the 2019-19 fiscal, we plan to have the passenger footfall increased to 1 lakh. Air-Orissa plans to introduce another flight service between Kadapa and Chennai from March 31 and Supreme Airlines has also evinced interest in operating flights from Kadapa,” he said.
According to him, under Udan scheme, first fifty percent of the seats should be sold at Rs 1,900 each from Kadapa to Chennai, Kadapa to Hyderabad and Kadapa to Vijayawada. The remaining would have dynamic pricing Under the scheme, fare for 151 km-175 km will be Rs 1,420 and Rs 1,500 for 175 km-200 km . During festive occasions, the fare will be reduced.
Trujet representatives advise the passengers to book ticket one month or a fortnight in advance to avail themselves of the discount on fares. Meanwhile, the Kadapa airport is poised for modernisation with proposals being readied for expanding the current runway from the existing 1,719 meters to 2,500 meters. Once completed, it will facilitate landing of bigger aircraft.
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Trujet flight services - Kadapa to Hyderabad; Kadapa to Chennai; Kadapa to Vijayawada
Timings
Kadapa to Vijayawada - 9:30 am - 10:35 am
Vijayawada to Kadapa - 8 am - 9:10 am
Hyderabad to Kadapa - 9.05 am - 10.10 am
Kadapa to Hyderabad - 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Kadapa to Chennai - 10:30 am to 11:25 am
Chennai to Kadapa - 3.05 pm to 4.10 pm
Box headline
Indigo will launch its services from Vijayawada to Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru from Gannavaram airport on Friday. While there will be three services to Hyderabad -- at 12.10 pm, 6.45 pm and 9.35 pm daily, there will be one each to Bengaluru and Chennai at 8 am and 3.15 pm respectively.