Govt nod to 3 airports in Andhra Pradesh

International airport to come up at Bhogapuram

2 NO-FRILLS, 1 INTERNATIONAL

THE UNION government has given in principle approval to an international airport and two no-frills airports in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The government has also given site clearance for the proposed international greenfield airport at Kothagudem in Telangana. These approvals were given by the Steering Committee on Greenfield Airports headed by civil aviation secretary RN Choubey at its meeting on Monday.

The new international airport at Bhogapuram in Andhra Pradesh will be developed by the state government at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore. To be built through the public private partnership route, this airport is estimated to cater to 6.3 million passengers per annum (mppa) in the initial phase.

The other two airports in Andhra Pradesh will be developed as domestic no-frills airports with an estimated cost of Rs 88 crore each. Dagadarthi will be developed under PPP mode whereas project at Orvakallu will be developed by state government itself. These are the first set of approvals given to no-frills airports. The government plans to develop 50 such airports at estimated cost of Rs 50-100 crore in a few years to boost regional

The other two airports in Andhra Pradesh will be developed as domestic no-frills airports with an estimated cost of Rs 88 crore each

connectivity.

Bhogapuram and Dagadarthi are in Nellore district, while Orvakallu is in Kurnool district. These airports would cost a total of Rs 2,376 crore. The steering committee has recommended ‘site clearance’ for the greenfield airport project at Kothagudem in Telangana. With this project, Telangana would be getting a second greenfield airport after Hyderabad international airport.

“These clearances are expected to enhance the aviation infrastructure facilities in the newly created states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and will also boost the regional connectivity scheme,” the civil aviation ministry said in a statement.

To boost air connectivity, the government has announced regional connectivity scheme under the new civil aviation policy.

The scheme would provide various incentives to airlines and airports while the fare would be capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights.