Visakhapatnam Airport, which has hosted numerous international flights over the years, will cease its services from midnight tonight. The newly built Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district is now ready for flight operations, with services set to begin from August 17. Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier announced that scheduled flights from Visakhapatnam Airport would be discontinued.
The aviation authorities have stated that scheduled commercial flight operations from the civil enclave of Visakhapatnam Airport (INS Dega), which has served the region for nearly 30 years, are being discontinued. However, they clarified that an exception will apply during national emergencies. They further made clear that operations of Indian Air Force aircraft, armed forces and police aircraft, flights carrying government dignitaries, and leased and VIP aircraft will continue as usual from the airport, and that non-scheduled commercial operations will also continue from there. The central government stated that the international travel code ‘VTZ,’ currently assigned to Visakhapatnam Airport, will be transferred to the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport in Bhogapuram from 00:01 am on August 17.
The first international flight from Bhogapuram Airport was initially expected to depart on August 16, bound for Singapore. However, due to other reasons, it has now been decided that services will begin instead on the morning of August 17. Meanwhile, IndiGo has already prepared to operate 31 flights on the first day from Bhogapuram to Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Tirupati. Airlines are progressively releasing their schedules for operations from Bhogapuram International Airport. With Visakhapatnam Airport’s services set to be discontinued from midnight on August 16, all flights that previously operated from there will now depart from Bhogapuram.