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Vijayawada International Airport is an
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
serving
Vijayawada
Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...
and the
Andhra Pradesh Capital Region
Andhra Pradesh Capital Region is the metropolitan region area of Andhra Pradesh state capital, the defacto capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Vijayawada is the headquarters and the largest city of the region. It includes the major ancient cities o ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
The airport is located at
Gannavaram
Gannavaram is a suburb of Vijayawada in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal headquarters of Gannavaram mandal which is administered under Gudivada revenue division. It is a neighborhood of Vijayawada in ...
in Vijayawada, where
National Highway 16
Route 16, or Highway 16, can refer to:
International
* AH16, Asian Highway 16
* European route E16
* European route E016
Australia
- Thompsons Road (Victoria)
- South Australia
Canada
;Parts of the Trans-Canada Highway:
*Yellowhe ...
connecting
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
to
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
passes through. The
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
has experienced massive growth since the beginning of the
Decade
A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years.
Usage
Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...
. The
Central Government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
granted International status to the airport on 3 May 2017, and it's first
International flight
An international flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in different countries.
Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight going from Lond ...
was officially commenced on 04th December 2018 connecting
Vijayawada
Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...
with
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
History
The airfield located at Gannavaram served as an army base during the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, after which it was converted into a civilian airport.
Air Deccan
Air Deccan is an Indian regional airline currently operating from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It flies to a total of four destinations using Beech 1900D aircraft, as of November 2019. As of October 2021, the airline has temporarily suspended operatio ...
introduced a daily service between
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
and Vijayawada in September 2003. Until 2011, the airport had only four flights a day operated by
Kingfisher Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. ...
. In 2011, flag carrier
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...
and private airlines
Spicejet
SpiceJet is an Indian budget airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.6% as of March 2019. The airline operates 630 daily fli ...
and
Jet Airways
Jet Airways (India) Ltd is an Indian airline based in Delhi NCR, with a training and developmental center in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It b ...
introduced direct flights to the airport, but the latter terminated its service.
Air Costa
Air Costa was an Indian regional airline headquartered in Vijayawada and based out of Chennai International Airport. It was owned by Indian business company LEPL Group. The airline commenced operations as a regional airline in October 2013 usin ...
, a regional airline started operations in October 2013, with Vijayawada as its operational hub, which later suspended services.
To cater to the increasing passenger traffic, the foundation stone for a new interim terminal building was laid in October 2015. The terminal, designed to handle two million passengers per annum was opened on 12 January 2017. It was expected to be sufficient for passenger needs for the next four-five years until a larger terminal was built.
After domestic operations were shifted to the interim terminal, the old airport terminal building was closed and was prepared to handle international services. The terminal was equipped with a customs and immigration section and additional facilities and security arrangements.
The Central Government granted international status to the airport on 3 May 2017. However, it was only after the state government offered
viability gap funding
Viability is the ability of a thing (a living organism, an artificial system, an idea, etc.) to maintain itself or recover its potentialities.
Viability or viable may refer to:
Biology, medicine or ecology
* Viability selection, the selection of ...
(VGF) to airlines for operating international flights, that private operator
IndiGo
Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
bid for the contract to operate two flights a week to Singapore.
On 4 December 2018, Indigo flight 6E 33 departed for
Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...
, marking the inaugural international flight for Vijayawada and getting an international footprint for Vijayawada.
The flight was terminated in July 2019 after the six-month VGF agreement lapsed and the state government refused to extend the agreement.
Facilities
Structure
The airport is spread over 1265 acres. Initially, it was spread over 567, and later 698 acres were pooled from adjoining villages. It has 16 parking bays for A320, B737, ATR-72, and Bombardier Q400.
Runways
The airport has one runway:
* Runway 08/26: ,
ILS equipped
The airport's runway has been expanded to 3360m from 2270m. It can now handle wide body aircraft like
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
,
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap bet ...
,
Boeing 787
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
,
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
,
Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with ...
and
Airbus A350
The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus.
The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 wi ...
.
Terminals
The interim terminal and the ceremonial lounge spread over 12,999 square metres includes check-in area, arrival hall, meet and greet service staircase, aviation lounge, and baggage pick up area. The lounge is spread over 3,613 square metres. The terminal can handle up to 500 passengers at a time and has 18 check-in counters.
Expansion
The construction of the new integrated terminal building is under construction, after the
foundation stone
The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Over time ...
laid by the then
Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician, India's Sherpa to the G7 anChancellor of Rishihood University who was the Minister of Civil Aviation, Railways, Commerce & Industry in the First Modi ministry.
He is a ...
and
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Venkaiah Naidu
Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Housi ...
on 4 December 2018. The 35,000m² (376,700 ft²) steel and glass structure is being developed by the
Airports Authority of India
The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...
(AAI) at an estimated cost of ₹ 611 crores (US$ 86 million). The new terminal is being designed for peak daily handling of 1,200 (600 domestic and 400 international) passengers, with 24 check-in counters, five conveyor belts, 14 immigration counters, three customs counters, and eight gates and six
aerobridges
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, m ...
, which can accommodate large widebody aircraft, such as the
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap bet ...
and
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
. The new terminal's parking facilities will accommodate an additional 1,250 automobiles.
As of May 2022, 20% work on the new terminal has been completed, and the completed parts on the airport's expansion project includes the apron, the four-lane approach road and the runway expansion, which is expanded to 3,360 m and can handle larger aircraft. Initially, it was planned to complete the new terminal by August 2022, but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, which faced delays in work, it is now expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Statistics
Accidents and incidents
On 28 August 1980,
Vickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner.
The Visc ...
VT-DJC of Huns Air was damaged beyond economic repair when the nosewheel collapsed after the aircraft bounced three times on landing.
In February 2021, an Air India Express plane was involved in ground incident, the aircraft wing impacted a floodlight pole while taxing in. No injuries were reported. The flight originated in Doha, Qatar.
References
External links
Vijayawada Airportat
Airports Authority of India
The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...
website.
{{Airports in India
Airports in Andhra Pradesh
Transport in Vijayawada
Buildings and structures in Vijayawada
Airports established in the 1940s
1940s establishments in India