Visakhapatnam: Commercial flight operations from the Visakhapatnam airport came to an end from Sunday night. The last flight to take off from the airport was the Delhi bound one, 6E 2018 operated by IndiGo, which departed at 10.45 pm on Sunday.
The airport, spread over an area of 350.31 acres has a single operational runway.
Flight operations have now shifted to the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh, PTI reported. Flight services commenced from this airport on Monday with the first flight – an IndiGo one – arriving from Hyderabad. This was followed by an Air India Express flight from Bengaluru. The IATA airport code ‘VTZ’ also shifted from Visakhapatnam Airport to the Bhogapuram airport from 12.01 am on August 17.
Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu marked the beginning of operations at the new international airport almost 16 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on August 1. The aviation minister flagged off the first commercial flight after handing over boarding passes to passengers.
“The commencement of commercial flight operations at Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport is a matter of great happiness and pride. This marks the beginning of a new chapter for North Andhra and will open new opportunities for the region,” Naidu said.
“AAI Visakhapatnam Airport notifies to passengers that all flight movements will be commenced at Bhogapuram w.e.f. 17.08.2026 0001 hrs. Kindly note and make your travel arrangements accordingly,” N Purushottam, the director of Visakhapatnam airport had posted on X on August 10.
Purushottam issued a farewell message for employees, stakeholders and partners and stated in a press release that: “Visakhapatnam Airport has reached an important milestone with the conclusion of its scheduled commercial operations, and we sincerely acknowledge the contribution of every employee, stakeholder and partner who supported the airport’s operations and passenger services over the years.”
The Visakhapatnam airport will be used by private flights henceforth.
The airport came into being during World War II, when an airstrip was constructed for the Royal Air Force. The airport briefly opened for civil operations in 1962 before resuming regular flights only in 1976.
The Indian Navy commenced aviation operations at this airport from December 1972. A helipad along with hangars were built adjacent to the airfield in 1976. Indian Navy claimed the ownership of the airport on March 12, 1986 from the Airports Authority of India and the airport was designated as ‘Naval Air Station, Visakhapatnam’. Additional facilities were constructed soon after and on October 21, 1991, the air station was renamed and formally commissioned as INS Dega.
Its expansion continued until the airport suffered extensive damage during Cyclone Hudhud. After that tragedy, an agreement was signed to move civilian operations from the airport to Bhogapuram in a phased manner, as reported by Mint.
The airport at Bhogapuram is located at a distance of 25-30 km from Vizianagaram. Featuring a single runway, its passenger terminal is spread over an area of 77,342 m2 (832,500 sq ft) and has a capacity to handle six million passengers per annum. Situated about 45 km northeast of Visakhapatnam, one can reach the new airport via National Highway 16.
