The Central government granted international status to Vijayawada airport in Gannavaram on Wednesday. This status will enhance the connectivity to the Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati.
A statement from PMO said, “As per the decision of the Cabinet, Vijayawada, the land of victory, joins the club of international airports in India. Vijayawada International Airport will welcome people from all over & provide an opportunity to discover Andhra Pradesh.”
The Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said that approval was given as per provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. As per the act the Centre must “examine the feasibility of expanding the existing Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati airports to international standards and take an expeditious decision thereon.”
The new status will open doors for international passengers and cargo traffic. The status was accorded based on the passenger traffic growth and demands from airlines and Andhra Pradesh government.
In the year 2014-15 the passenger traffic was 2.33 lakhs which went up to 4 lakh by 2015-16 with increase of 71 percent. In the following year 2016-17 there was 64 percent increase of passenger traffic with 6.50 lakh passengers using the airport. By next year the traffic may hit one million mark.
In March, the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved proposal to rename the Vijayawada Airport as ‘Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao-Amaravati Airport’ after the founder of the ruling Telugu Desam Party, and the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.
