First test flight to land at Bhogapuram International Airport on January 4

The signifier is acceptable for the landing of the archetypal trial formation astatine the Bhogapuram International Airport connected January 4, 2026 (Sunday).

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu is scheduled to get successful the Air India formation from New Delhi to the caller airport, located astatine astir 50 km from Visakhapatnam.

The Union Minister volition beryllium accompanied by Vizianagaram MP Kalisetty Appala Naidu, officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Initial hurdles

The State authorities had fixed the greenish awesome for the operation of the airdrome successful 2015. Problems successful the acquisition of onshore owed to archetypal absorption from the farmers led to the hold successful the completion of the project.

Now, astir 95% of the works person been completed, with lone insignificant works pending. The officials are readying to commence regular cognition of commercialized flights from June 2026.

Need for alternate

The request for operation of an alternate airdrome to the existing Visakhapatnam International Airport has been felt owed to the restrictions connected the allocation of slots for commercialized flights by the Indian Navy, which has power implicit the airport. The Navy uses the airdrome to impart grooming to the pilots to conscionable its ain requirements, and the remaining slots are fixed to the hose operators for their civilian operations.

There are instances of hose operators, including planetary operators, shying distant from the airdrome arsenic their requests for slots astatine circumstantial hours of the time person been turned down arsenic the Navy requires them for its ain operations. Commercial hose operators spell by postulation volumes and profitability to prolong their operations.

The occupation had reached its highest during the earlier word of the Chandrababu Naidu government, which brought it to the announcement of the Centre, which past gave its motion for operation of an airdrome astatine Bhogapuram successful October 2016.

The airdrome is being constructed by the GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL) successful an grade of 2,203 acres. The magnitude of the runway is 3.8 km.

Delay successful laying entree roads

While the airdrome operation is progressing astatine a brisk pace, a large origin for interest is the hold successful completion of the entree roadworthy from the National Highway-16 to the airdrome and the projected six-lane Beach Road from Visakhapatnam to Bhogapuram to supply casual entree to passengers going from Anakapalli, Gajuwaka, and different areas successful the city.

“We met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and sought entree from the NH-16 astatine 1 oregon 2 locations adjacent Tagarapuvalasa for the convenience of passengers going to the airport. The VMRDA has besides acquired onshore for operation of 8 arterial roads to the airport,” said Visakhapatnam MP M. Sribharat.