VISAKHAPATNAM: More flights should be operated from Vizag to increase the air connectivity from the city to Tier 2 cities and more international destinations, Air Travellers’ Association president D Varada Reddy said here on Thursday. Addressing media persons, he said the association would impress upon the airlines to increase its services and hoped that the flight movement at the airport would increase from the present 72 to 200 by the end of the next year.
He said there will be more demand for flight services in view of the city will be the executive capital of the State. He said the airport, whose nine services in 2009 have gone up to 72 following the construction of a new terminal and extension of the runway. He said there was a need to operate air services from the city to Mangalore, Kochi, Goa, Varanasi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Pune and Jaipur. Besides additional services should be operated from here to Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Chennai.
He said direct flights should be introduced to Dubai, Sharjah, Kuwait, Bangkok and Colombo and they would negotiate with the airlines to operate the flights. Reddy said these air services would be helpful for the people of backward north Andhra region. About 5,000 people from Srikakulam district alone are visiting Gulf countries every year, he said. He said air traffic control should be upgraded so that it would be possible to operate more flights.
ATA secretary Babji said there was need to step up international cargo export from the airport and widebodies cargo aircraft should be operated. ATA treasurer MV Janakiram said tourism would get a boost if Buddhist tourism circuit and other tourism places in the region are promoted. He said more tourists visit the region if more flights are operated.