Visakhapatnam's International Aspirations

Visakhapatnam Airport, serving the Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh in India, may have only just started receiving international flights but it has aspirations to add additional destinations to its network map in the coming years. The facility, controlled by the Indian Navy, has experienced mass growth over the past decade, but solely in the domestic market. However, infrastructure improvements including developments to the terminal and a runway extension meant it was able to welcome its first international flight on March 27, 2012 as Air India inaugurated a service from Dubai, via Hyderabad.

Back in 1999, the airport had just a single domestic flight but its network now stretches to eight points (Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Tirupati) with five airlines (Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Star Aviation) offering around 150 flights per week.

The airport is now working to secure a second international route with Bangkok and Singapore understood to be top of its wish list, providing onward connections to destinations across the globe. According to Airport Director, K Srinivasa Rao, recent market surveys by both local carriers and international operators have shown “a positive” response for hub destinations like Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok.

“We are working to attract additional flights by highlighting the industrial growth in the region and wider catchment area and likely increase in traffic based on actual figures of traffic over the years,” he explained. “Airlines we are targeting include Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Tiger Airways.”

The airport’s management is confident that new services can be secured, although the restricted opening times of the facility could cause some schedule issues. Visakhapatnam is now CAT VII certified and planned projects will bring additional capacity to the airport. This includes a proposal to expand the apron to accommodate additional parking spaces and a proposal to open a new cargo facility by modifying the old passenger terminal.

The major selling point for the airport is its large catchment. Approximately 17.23 million people live within the five districts of Andhraparadesh, a further 5.35 million in the six districts of Orissa and 2.67 million more in the three districts of Chattisgarh.

Looking at the airport’s schedule for May, Hyderabad is its main domestic destination, accounting for around 37 per cent of flights, followed by Chennai with a 23 per cent share of the services. SpiceJet and Jet Airways are the largest operators, each with more than 40 flights per week.