Vizag airport's swanky terminal set to start operation

Visakhapatnam: Vizag Airport's new swanky terminal is all set to start operation. Built for Rs 60 crore by Airport Authority India, the work had got delayed due to Covid 19. Vizag MP, MVV Satyanarayana with Director of Vizag Airport Srinivas along with Airport Advisory committee members K Kumar Raja, DS Varma, and O.Naresh Kumar reviewed the progress of the new terminal building.

As of now, all works are complete, and only cleaning work is in progress. Shifting of customs and immigration computers to the new terminal is under process. The seating capacity has been doubled. It can help in the smooth flow of passengers both at in domestic and international terminals. "We requested Airport Director to allow passengers to start using this immediately as a trial test for full commercial operation. He said the permission has also been obtained," said Naresh Kumar.

With the new N5 Taxi track, additional parking bays recently, and new international terminal, Vizag airport will handle double the passenger traffic with ease. With the expansion of the terminal building, an additional 10,000 sqm of space will be added to the existing 20,000 sqm. The additional space would be utilized exclusively for international arrivals and departures. The existing space, which is now being used for international arrivals and departures will be used to cater to the needs of the requirements of the domestic passengers.

"The new terminal building has six parking bays and three aero-bridges. Six more are already operational, it will facilitate parking of 12 planes at a time. In one hour, 12 flights can land and take off which means handling over 3,000 passengers at the airport at a time. The expansion of the terminal building is expected to take care of that load. the extra space will help ensure social distancing," Kumar said

Two new baggage handling belts and 4 additional departure gates have been added. In addition, there are four parking bays at the apron near the old terminal building. These parking bays are now being used for the movements of non-scheduled aircraft and VIP planes. The canopy work is also fully completed and operational.

Total footfalls in Visakhapatnam in 2021-22 were 16,10,483 against 11,13,516 in 2020-21.

Aircraft movements were 14,878 up by 39.5%

Cargo tonnage was 4326 tonnes up by 14.5%.

Around 28,53,990 passengers traveled from Visakhapatnam airport in 2018-19.