Vizag airport to resume operations today

HYDERABAD: The Visakhapatnam Airport is all set to resume operations from Friday, with an Air India aircraft scheduled to fly into the still-in-tatters facility at around 8.45am. The flight, AI 452 will take off from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, at 7.45am and touchdown at Vizag an hour later. The same flight will travel to Delhi at 9.30 am and reach the national capital at around 11.55am.
Later in the afternoon (1.30pm), AI 451 will make a return trip on the same route and land in Vizag at about 3:40pm. Following an hour's halt, it will continue its onward journey to Hyderabad and reach RGIA at 5.20pm.
"This flight will then take off for Dubai as AI 951 at 8.30pm. While this is originally a Vizag-Hyderabad-Dubai flight, for the time being we will be restricting its operations between Hyderabad and Dubai as immigration/customs facilities at Vizag are still not functional," said an official spokesperson of Air India adding, "Passengers from Vizag travelling to Dubai will undergo these procedures at the Hyderabad facility."
Airline authorities said the decision to begin commercial operations was taken following a go-ahead from the DGCA. But independent sources said the move was a result of mounting pressure from the Union civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju who is from Andhra Pradesh. Raju was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vizianagaram.
"It's actually the minister who pushed DGCA to give ground clearance to resume operations in Vizag," said a source questioning the minister's hurried decision. Similarly, some other observers too raised serious concerns over the condition of the cyclone-hit airport and wondered it was safe to resume operations just yet.
However, director the Airport Authority of India-manned facility at the Port City, C Pattabhi, insisted that the airport was "fit for use". "Apart from the air-conditioning, all other facilities are in working condition. We will cover the roof with tarpaulin sheets and issue hand-written boarding passes to travellers. This will be the norm until the networks are restored. That apart, there should be no problem with security checks as that area has remained unaffected," Pattabhi said. Dispelling rumours about AAI making emergency arrangements for night landings, the airport director informed that no such provisions were likely to be in place at least for another 15 days.
Private carriers including Indigo, SpiceJet and Air Costa too are expected to resume operations to and from Vizag in the next few days. "While DCGA has okayed the use of the airport with effect from October 17, Air Costa will resume its services from October 18. It will have two inward and two outward flights - a Hyderabad-Vizag-Bangalore and Bangalore-Vizag-Vijayawada - operating to and from Vizag. This will continue until October 25, after which we will have a new winter schedule," the official spokesperson of Air Costa said. Though Indigo and SpiceJet could not be reached for a confirmation, sources said that the carriers too will resume operations from early next week.