Vizag airport to suspend night flights for 4 months

Visakhapatnam: Night flights from Visakhapatnam International Airport will be suspended for four months starting from November 15 to March end of 2024, as a part of resurfacing works on the runway. About 12 flights including international flight services will be stopped from 9 pm to 8 am.

Captain (Air) for Commanding Officer Captain Sanjeev K Agnihotri has written an email to the Airport Director, Visakhapatnam informing that the main runway which is utilized by civil flights is scheduled to undergo resurfacing from November 15 to March end, 2024.

The decision is set to affect passengers travelling from other countries to Vizag for their winter vacation in December and January and also impact local winter tourism.

There are around 12 domestic flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, and one international flight to Singapore that operate from Vizag. Currently, Vizag Airport has 30 take-offs and 30 flight landings in a day. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the airport is under the control of the Navy, whereas the civil enclave is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Resurfacing of airport runways is done once in about 10 years and the last time it was done in 2009.

“Flights will be stopped for 11 hours for five and half months from 9 am to 8 am. But we have asked for a change in closing time, from 10:30 pm to 7 am. However, we are yet to get a response from the Navy." said Airport director Raja Reddy speaking to News Meter.

Further, the airline operators have been informed to make changes in their winter schedules accordingly.

“November and December are peak winter vacation months when tourists come from other cities to Visakhapatnam, especially to visit Lambasingi in Araku agency. This would affect the tourist flow to Vizag, where people might opt for other tourist destinations,” said Jahaz, a travel operator from Vizag.