Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar has exhorted officials of the Infrastructure and Investment (I&I) and other departments concerned to strive to get air connectivity between Vijayawada and Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Rajamahendravaram augmented to cater to a larger number of travellers. In a review meeting on various airport projects under execution on Thursday, Mr. Dinesh Kumar said demand for air travel was growing at such an impressive pace that people flying out of Kadapa increased tremendously. The demand was unmet to a large extent as the airlines were yet to realise the potential offered by Tier II and Tier III towns. Shortage of pilots was another matter of concern.
Mr. Kumar ordered that the construction of three parking bays at the Tirupati airport should be completed by the end of September and expansion of the runway at Rajamahendravaram airport by May 2018. Steps should be taken for speedy construction of the integrated terminal building at the airport in Gannavaram.
He also instructed the officials to expedite acquisition of land for the airports at Kuppam, Donakonda, Nagarjuna Sagar, Bhogapuram and Orvakal, and pursue implementation of Sagarmala project with priority to Visakhapatnam-Kakinada stretch of the east coast.
Principal Secretary (Energy, I&I and CRDA) Ajay Jain and A.P. Fibrenet Limited Managing Director Babu A. were present.