About Vijayawada Airport
Vijayawada Airport (IATA: VGA, ICAO: VOBZ) is a public domestic airport,
situated at a distance of 18 kilometers from Vijayawada. The airport is
located on National Highway 5 connecting Chennai to Kolkata. It is a
mid-sized domestic airport serving Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. Its runway
was extended to 7,500 feet in 2011, allowing for the operation of bigger
aircraft. In anticipation of an increase in air traffic from Vijayawada
after it was declared the capital of the Re-organised Andhra Pradesh, the
Airports Authority of India (AAI) is developing and making infrastructural
changes to the airport.
The airfield served as an army base during the World War II, after which it
was converted into a civilian airport. Air Deccan introduced a daily service
between Hyderabad and Vijayawada in September 2003. The airport, which had
only two flights a day operated by Kingfisher Airlines until early 2011, saw
an increase in services that year with Air India and private airlines like
Spicejet and Jet Airways introducing a direct flights from Gannavaram.
Air Costa, a regional airline started operations in October 2013, with
Vijayawada as its operational hub and Chennai as maintenance hub. Turbo
Aviation TruJet said it will launch its services from Vijayawada by
operating non-scheduled services with two charters to other parts of the
southern cities.
The airport covers an area of 537 acres (217 ha) and the runway is 2,286
metres (7,500 ft) long. The airport has sixteen parking bays for ATR
72/Bombardier Q400/ Boeing 737/Airbus A320 of which 5 are exclusively for
ATR72/Bombardier Q400.
To cater to the increasing passenger traffic, the foundation stone for a new
terminal building was laid in October 2015. The terminal was completed in 14
months and inaugurated on 12 January 2017. The structure, built at a cost of
rupees 135 Crores (19.3 million US Dollars), will act as an interim terminal
before the International terminal is built.
The interim terminal and the ceremonial lounge spread over 12,999 square
metres includes check-in area, arrival hall, meet and greet service
staircase, aviation lounge, and baggage make up area. The lounge is spread
over 3,613 square metres. The terminal can handle up to 500 passengers at
any point of time and has 18 check-in counters. Recently 5 Kiosk (Self
check-in Machines) are placed in Airport for Passengers.
Cargo services have started from the airport in August, 2018. Airport Wi-Fi
is provided by Reliance Jio under the name JioNet.
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