Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, laid the foundation stone for the new terminal building at Rajahmundry Airport on Sunday. The new terminal is being constructed with an investment of ₹350 crore.
Speaking on the development of civil aviation in Andhra Pradesh, the Minister said that prior to 2014 Andhra Pradesh had only 4 airports, now it has 6 airports. The air traffic movement has increased from 388 in the year 2014 to 1162.
The two new Greenfield airports being built in the state, at Bhogapuram and Nellore and Prakasam water barrage will soon be ready for the public.
National scenario
Nationally, the country will have over 200 airports by 2030, which will especially include airports in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. “Additionally, we will be carrying more than 40 crore passengers, thus establishing our mandate of becoming the biggest aviation market,’‘ he added.
Rajahmundry is currently connected to three cities i.e., Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru, and handles 126 flight movements per week. The new terminal building will meet the requirements of the airport as the existing infrastructure was not enough to meet the rapid growth in passenger traffic.
The expansion of the Terminal building on an additional area of 17,029 sqm has been done at a cost of ₹350 Crore. After the expansion, the total area of the Terminal Building will be 21,094 sqm. This expansion will help to serve 2100 passengers during peak hours and 30 lakh passengers annually.