Rajahmundry airport tops in occupancy rates

Rajahmundry: Streamlining timing of flights has helped Rajahmundry airport top the list of airports with regard to occupancy of passengers and also be placed second (after Visakhapatnam airport) in providing amenities to passengers as per Airport Service Quality ranking. As many as three airlines -- Jet Airways, SpiceJet and True Jet -- are operating two arrivals and two departures each day to Hyderabad and Chennai vice-versa directly.

On an average, 700 to 800 passengers arrive or depart from the airport each day and the average turnout of passengers at the airport ranges between 22,000 and 25,000 per month at present, up from 12,000 to 13,000 per month earlier. The airport authorities say that the strategic timing of arrival and departure of aircrafts to the airport is very important to attract a good number of air passengers to prefer travel by air.

For instance, if a passenger intends to visit Hyderabad to attend some official work, he or she intends to reach Hyderabad by the time the office hours begin, get the work done and return by evening flight to reach home the same day. This strategic timing helped the Rajahmundry airport to be ahead of occupancy of passengers when compared with other airports including Visakhapatnam, Ganna-varam, Tirupati and Kadapa in the state.

Similarly, Airports Council International?s Airport Service Quality is a world renowned benchmarking programme to assess the satisfaction of passengers on a kind of amenities and services being provided at the airport.  Rajahmundry airport secured second position in ASQ. Airport authorities say that given vast potential for air traffic, they intend to provide better amenities and more services to the passengers. Efforts are on to introduce air services to Bengaluru, Tirupati and Aurangabad as more people are asking for such services.

Meanwhile, airport development works including runway expansion are going on at a brisk pace. Nearly 857 acres land was acquired and works are underway. The length of the runway is being extended to 10,500 ft from the existing 5,000 ft to facilitate landing and takeoff of big winged aircraft. Rajahmundry airport director Raj Kishore said, ?We have adopted strategic timing of arrival and departure of aircrafts by requesting the airlines to be more convenient to the air passengers to prefer air service to others like rail or bus. This helped us to enhance our passenger occupancy. We are also providing good amenities and services at the airport to the passengers and wish to enhance them further.