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Our Bureau

Visakhapatnam , May 4

The number of flights to and from Visakhapatnam is likely to go up from the present 54 to over 100 in a few months.

At a press meet here, Mr N. Janardhana Reddy, the local Member of Parliament and former Chief Minister, said efforts by him and the local chapter of the Air Travellers' Association of India for greater air connectivity to the city would bear fruit by November.

Visakhapatnam is now connected to Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi via Raipur. Only 54 flights operate in a week though there was passenger growth of 60 per cent in 2005-2006. As many as 2.5 lakh air travellers passed through it.

"Ten flights a week in the Visakhapatnam-Kolkata-Visakhapatnam sector, 24 flights a week in Visakhapatnam-Chennai-Visakhapatnam sector, 28 a week on Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam route, 21 flights a week in Visakhapatnam-Mumbai-Visakhapatnam sector, and 14 a week in Visakhapatnam-Delhi-Visakhapatnam sectors will be operated. In addition, direct flights to Port Blair and Bangalore from our city are expected in the new future,'' he said.

EXPANSION

The expansion of Visakhapatnam airport to 10,000 ft is under way and wide-bodied aircraft could land here round-the-clock from January next when the night-landing facilities would be ready.

New terminal building with facilities such as customs, immigration, three aerobridges, large concourses for arrival and departure and four baggage belts would be ready by January-2008 to enable international flights also to land in Visakhapatnam, Mr Janardhana Reddy said.

Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airline, had already confirmed its readiness to operate flights from Visakhapatnam to Singapore directly. Others which were showing similar interest include Malaysian, Sri Lankan and Thai Airlines which would herald greater connectivity and a bright future for the city, he added.

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