GVL meets Defence Minister for early completion of Vizag airport works

BJP Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao discussed crucial matters with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane in New Delhi. He highlighted the planned closure of Visakhapatnam Airport's runway for night operations (9 p.m. to 8 a.m.) from Nov 15 to Apr 1 for essential resurfacing work.

Visakhapatnam: BJP Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament GVL Narasimha Rao on Friday met the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane in New Delhi and informed them that the runway at Visakhapatnam Airport under the control of Indian Navy was planned to be closed for night operations between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. from November 15 to April 1 due to the proposed Runway Resurfacing work activities.

Stating that the closure of the airport runway for a long duration of 4.5 months would severely affect business operations and inconvenience passengers due to the cancellation of several flights during the runway closing hours, Narasimha Rao sought the intervention of the Defence Minister and Defence Secretary to reduce the period of Resurfacing works in Visakhapatnam airport by adopting modern methods and techniques.

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He informed them that similar Resurfacing works in Hyderabad and Pune Airports were completed in a much shorter duration of less than one month by using modern methods and technology, and felt that the Resurfacing work in Visakhapatnam airport also should be completed in a much shorter duration than the proposed 4.5 months.

“Military Engineering Services (MES) has completed the Resurfacing of a portion of the runway at the Pune Airport in record time of 14 days, whereas earlier the same work had taken 28-35 days previously and this helped the flight operations to resume early”, Narasimha Rao wrote in his letter to the Defence Minister.

Recalling the early completion of Resurfacing works in Hyderabad airport, the MP said, “Rajiv Gandhi International Airport operator, GIAL, Hyderabad has completed the first phase of Refurbishment of its runway in just 15 days as compared to the normal time frame of three months. The use of new Airport Grade Steel Guard (AGSG) technology to apply a special protective coat to the runway designed to preserve, and extend the life of existing asphalt pavement surfaces, made the super quick time possible.”

In this context, he also requested the Defence Minister and Defence Secretary that the time of closure of the Airport runway for the Resurfacing works may be revised to 11 PM to 6 AM to minimize minimal disturbance to the flight schedules.

After the meeting, Narasimha Rao stated that both the Defence Minister and Defence Secretary were very responsive and promised to have the matter examined for early completion of Resurfacing works in Visakhapatnam airport. GVL expressed hope that his intervention will result in a positive outcome and reduce inconvenience to both passengers and businesses.