5 months ago
1
After overmuch delay, enactment connected the caller integrated terminal coming up astatine the Vijayawada International Airport successful Gannavaram seems to person picked up pace, to conscionable the caller deadline of March 31, 2026.
While Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had initially acceptable the completion people astatine June, 2025, the deadline was aboriginal pushed to December and present to March, 2026. Commissioning of the caller terminal, however, volition instrumentality 2 much months, according to the airdrome authorities.
Over 100 workers are engaged successful gathering the terminal, the instauration chromatic for which was laid successful 2018. Since then, enactment had seen galore hiccups, including the pandemic, which delayed its progress.
Currently, implicit 80% of the terminal has been completed, including the solid work, interiors, flooring and baggage strip, the airdrome authorities said. Once opened to the nationalist successful June-July, each airdrome operations would beryllium shifted to the caller terminal, which tin accommodate 3.5 cardinal passengers per annum, volition person some home and planetary facilities nether 1 extortion and volition person amended facilities than the existing one, including much escalators and much inline baggage system.
The existing terminal has 2 antithetic terminals for home and planetary flights and has a rider handling capableness of 2.03 cardinal passengers per annum (MPPA).
According to the airdrome authorities, the caller terminal, coming up astatine a outgo of astir ₹611 crore, volition person 24 check-in counters and highest hr handling of 1,200 passengers (800 home and 400 international), which is somewhat beneath the existent handling capableness of 1,272 passengers, including 972 home and 300 planetary passengers.
However, the caller terminal volition person 8 immigration/custom counters, 6 departure gates, of which 3 are remote. Two of the distant departure gates are for home flights and 1 for international. It volition besides person capable abstraction to accommodate 648 vehicles successful the parking slot.
Notably, the caller terminal volition person six aerobridges, which volition obliviate the request for passengers to beryllium ferried from the terminal to the runway. The country of the caller terminal gathering is 36,075 sq.m. Right now, the passengers are transported to the runway connected a bus.
In accordance with the Chief Minister’s instructions, the caller terminal gathering volition person the themes of Amaravati Buddhist stupas and Kuchipudi dance. According to the airdrome authorities, determination volition beryllium six figures of Kuchipudi dancers adjacent accomplishment and departure gates and rider boarding span nodes; determination volition beryllium an Amaravati stupa adjacent the airside facade.
It whitethorn beryllium noted that currently, the Vijayawada International Airport is connected to Bengaluru, Kadapa, Hyderabad, Chennai, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai, Delhi and Kurnool.
