Union Minister for Civil Aviation, K Ram Mohan Naidu, on Saturday, said that Andhra Pradesh would have seven more airports in the coming years. This would take the total airports strength in the state to 14, he said.
The Minister interacted with the media after his meeting with chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Delhi on the day. He said that the Central government is ready to help the state in building the new airports. He wanted the State government to show the land for the airports. The centre would help the state to build the airports, he said.
In the first phase the Centre would help the state in building airports at Srikakulam, Dagadarthi, Kuppam and Nagarjuna Sagar. The government is almost ready with the land for the airports in these places, he said. He further added that the government is acquiring the land in Kuppam for the airport and it would be finalized in the coming couple of months.
He further said that the central government is also ready to upgrade the terminals in Rajamahendravaram, Vijayawada and Kadapa airports. These airports would also have more connectivity in the days to come. Vijayawada airport would have direct connection with the New Delhi airport, the minister said. He said that IndiGo had agreed to operate one service between Delhi and Vijayawada from September.
The Union Minister said that he was trying to increase the connectivity to Vijayawada airport so that Amaravati would be within the reach of everyone. The air services from Chennai, Bengalauru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other cities would also be introduced for Vijayawada airport, the Minister said.
He said that discussions were held with the chief minister on converting the Puttaparthi airport as the government airport. The State government officials would hold talks with the management of the Puttaparthi airport, he said. This would be finalized soon, he said.
Ram Mohan Naidu said that the chief minister was looking at developing Andhra Pradesh as the logistic hub. The airports would help a lot in developing a state into a logistic hub, the union minister said.