Vijayawada airport: Runway expansion at snail's pace

Vijayawada: While Krishna district administration is not happy with the pace of airport runway works, the airport administration is claiming that base level work has already been started. Excavation works also were started and the agency has deployed the machinery, airport director Madhusudana Rao said.  

However, the district collector told the airport authorities to focus on completing the works on time and suggested them to get gravel from APIIC site in Thotapalli village, near Gannavaram. Following the delay in runway expansion works, the collector suggested the authorities to organise 200 trips of mud and gravel loads from Thotapalli village.  

The works have already been started and the agency is now engaged in levelling the runway in a scientific way, Mr Rao said. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has spent Rs 162 crore on the new terminal building. It is extending the runway from 2,286 m to 3,360 m at an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore. Another Rs 30 crore has been expended on the remaining expansion works.

Speaking on the same, AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (APCCIF) general secretary Potluri Bhaskar Rao said civil works were on and would pick speed within a month. “There is only one Air India flight at 8 pm, in the night for Delhi. The airport authorities have extended the facility of international baggage check-in here itself, which facilitates overseas passengers a smooth check in at New Delhi,” Mr Bhaskar Rao said.  However, he said international services from Vijayawada airport might start in May.