Just a couple of days after Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu’s meeting in New Delhi, the centre has given a green signal to explore the feasibility of establishing seven new airports in Andra Pradesh. During the meeting held in New Delhi on Sunday, August 18, 2024, Chandrababu Naidu had urged MoCA to consider improving the regional connectivity in Andra Pradesh and had put forward a recommendation for seven new airports. 

Going ahead, the chief minister is also ready to allocate the land needed for the centre to carry out their feasibility studies. He has proposed new airports in the following regions

  • Kuppam
  • Dagadarthi in Nellore
  • Nagarjuna Sagar in Palnadu district

Apart from the above three regions, the centre will also include Srikakulam, the hometown of Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu, in the feasibility study.

Interestingly the upcoming civil enclave at the BhogapuramInternational Airport in Vizianagaram district is closer to Srikakulam which justifies Centre’s selection of this particular region for the study. 

The MoCA has also announced that as soon as the studies are completed and reports are submitted, the ministry is ready to commence the work on new airports. The above study will be a part of Phase I of development by the civil aviation ministry.

As a part of second phase of development, the centre will consider Ongole, Tadepalligudem, and the area between Tuni and Annavaram for airport feasibility study. 

Currently there are seven airports in Andra Pradesh for commercial operations, if the above plan is materialised, Andra Pradesh will witness a boom in regional connectivity for air travel taking doubling the number of airports to 14. The centre is also planning a new seaplane policy to utilise the water channels in Andra Pradesh and take the overall connectivity quotient to a new level. The minister unveiled plans to introduce aerodromes in Prakasam and Srisailam.

Meanwhile the civil aviation ministry is working on the following plans to further boost the aerial connectivity to and from Andra Pradesh

  • Enhance flight services from Vijayawada to Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Visakhapatnam (Just today, IndiGo announced a New Delhi- Vijayawada direct route as a part of this plan)
  • Complete expansion of Vijaywada runway by June 2025. 
  • Complete Kadapa airport renovation work by December 2025
  • Complete Bhogampuram airport work by 2026.

The minister is optimistic to finish the projects on time.