Vizag airport to close down during nights from Nov 15

According to the airport officials here on Thursday, the day services would be increased in the wake of the decision.

Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam airport will close down during nights from November 15 between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.

According to the airport officials here on Thursday, the day services would be increased in the wake of the decision.

---

BJP Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao on the day discussed with Eastern Naval Command FOC-In-Chief Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar regarding the night closure of Visakhapatnam airport runway from November 15 for undertaking resurfacing activities.

He met both the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane last month to seek shortening of the Visakhapatnam airport runway closure period.

During Thursday’s discussions with the ENC chief, the MP enquired if the hours of closure of the runway from 9 PM to 8 AM for four months could be reduced to allow operation of more flights to which the ENC Chief replied that the hours of closure announced is absolutely essential for surfacing and curing of the runway on a daily basis. Reducing this time is neither feasible nor advisable given the consideration of passenger safety, ENC Chief informed.

Asked why the surfacing activities in Visakhapatnam airport are taking much longer than in other defence airports, the ENC Chief stated that the Visakhapatnam airfield does not have a parallel taxi track unlike other bigger airports and this makes surfacing activities more time consuming in Visakhapatnam airport.

Upon Narasimha Rao’s concern that the night closure has resulted in cancelation of three flights from Visakhapatnam airlines’ schedule, the ENC Chief said that there are time slots available for more flights to operate during day time and that the ENC is prepared to deploy additional manpower in Air Traffic Control (ATC) to increase number of flights during day time.

After the discussion with ENC Chief, MP GVL Narasimha Rao stated that he was given an assurance that there would be no further delays and disruptions than planned closure timings and duration.

The ENC Chief had informed him that the surfacing work, previously undertaken 10 years ago, was now absolutely essential in the interest of both safety for civilian passengers and for defence operations.

The MP also the ENC Chief to organize consultations with all stakeholders to increase flight operations and to create awareness among people and businesses on the need for closure of runway for surfacing activities.