VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) has urged IndiGo Airlines CEO to introduce more flight service from Vijayawada airport. In a letter addressed to IndiGo Airlines CEO Pieter Elbers, the representatives of the AP Chambers requested better flight connectivity and air cargo facility at Vijayawada Airport.“Vijayawada airport registered a 23 per cent increase in passenger traffic in 2021-22. The airport also registered a 12 per cent rise in cargo movement during the same period. The airport has witnessed phenomenal growth in the past five years with an average growth rate of 100 per cent year-on-year since 2014 and emerged as the fastest-growing airports in the country,” the letter read.
“IndiGo placed Vijayawada on the global aviation map by starting an international flight from Vijayawada to Singapore. International flight operations commenced from the airport on December 4, 2018. However, after seven months (witnessing around 10,000 passengers) IndiGo suspended the international operations citing operational reasons even though the occupancy ratio registered around 80 per cent at the time of suspension. The population in the catchment area of the Vijayawada airport is around 20 million, of which an estimated 0.5 million are NRIs from the districts of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Godavari. As there are a lot of passengers travelling to Singapore from the State, we request IndiGo to restart Vijayawada-Singapore direct flight as soon as possible,” the letter read.
Similarly, there is a need to improve domestic connectivity between Vijayawada and other major cities in the country in view of a huge demand. “We request IndiGo to connect Vijayawada with Mumbai and Ahmedabad, and with Kolkata via Visakhapatnam. We also suggest increasing the frequency of flights between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam as Vijayawada is part of the capital region and Visakhapatnam is the commercial capital of Andhra Pradesh. We understand that IndiGo requested Vijayawada airport authorities to allot four night parking bays. As the airport authorities have allotted four night parking bays to IndiGo, we request you to utilise them,” representatives of the AP Chambers said.
Stating that the food processing sector has emerged as one of the key sectors in the State in terms of investment, production growth and exports as a variety of products such as fruits, fruit juices and fruit pulp, marine products, and flowers are produced and sent to other States and countries from the region, they said as the majority of the produce that is exported is highly perishable, the need to export them by air is high. “we request IndiGo to start air cargo connectivity from Vijayawada to other major destinations and also connect other airports in AP such as Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and Tirupati with cargo flights,” AP Chambers said.