Vizag among 20 busiest airports

Visakhapatnam: Vizag airport has notched up a good growth in traffic volume, by getting a place in the top 20 busiest airports in the country. However, many on social networking platforms are not happy over the growth as some airports which used to record lesser traffic volume than Vizag have gone ahead, keeping the Port city behind.

The city airport has recorded a traffic (both domestic and international) growth of 25.2 per cent in July against the one in 2017 as the Airport Authority of India releases July’s traffic statistics. The total number of passengers increased from 1, 88, 677 to 2, 36,165.

Meanwhile, in the financial year so far, from April to July, the traffic flow has also seen a growth of 14.8 per cent  from 8, 25,726 to 9, 48, 162.

Thanks to Indian Navy deferring its plans to impose restrictions on the movement of civil aircraft, passenger flow from Vizag airport continues to witness growth. The restriction decision by Indian Navy had drawn huge criticism from the public. However, Twitterati that closely monitors the development in civil aviation and demand for new flights, are not happy over the growth.

Ravi Teja said on Twitter that in domestic traffic, Coimbatore, Srinagar, Bagdogra, and Indore crossed VTZ. Overall too, Bagdogra and Coimbatore crossed VTZ. Hopefully, numbers will change from next November.

A Twitter handle, with the name Vizag Airport, tweeted that Vizag is now the 20th busiest airport. It is the 9th richest city as per GDP. It is a very good tourist destination but lacks good air connectivity.

Meanwhile, Spicejet has cancelled its service to Chennai from Vizag. “Please note that flights from Visakhapatnam to Chennai will be suspended from October 7. Please keep an eye on our social media channels for further updates,” read the official Twitter handle of Spicejet.

Regular fliers have urged the service provider not to cancel the flight, running with good occupancy.