Visakhapatnam: Holidaymakers and other passengers from Andhra bound for the US, Far East and Middle East are having to use Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata airports for want of more widespread flight connectivity to foreign destinations from their home state.
Andhra currently has an international airport only in Vizag, with flights only to Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL) being operated at limited frequency.
According to estimates by the Tours & Travels Association of Andhra (TTAA), Andhra travel agents contribute to about 50 per cent of the travel out of Hyderabad to the USA and 40 per cent to the Middle East and Far East. Andhra travel agents also contribute to about 15 per cent of the travel out of Chennai to USA and 20 per cent to the Far East.
“When a passenger flies to Hyderabad from Vizag, there is an additional cost burden of Rs 5,000 and loss of time; by train too there is a cost of Rs 2,500 and 13 hours spent travelling. A passenger flying out of Chennai or Kolkata to a foreign country also has language issues and loss of transit time,” said TTAA honorary chairman O. Naresh Kumar.
There are around 220 travel agents across AP and 56 agents in Vizag. Andhra-based international tour and travel agents contribute to about 55 per cent of the holiday packages in the state. In 2015, these tour operators contributed to about 90,000 passengers for international holidays and 1,50,000 passengers from Vizag alone travelling by air within the country.
“There is tremendous scope and need to introduce new flights connecting international destinations from Vizag and other places in Andhra Pradesh and the state government has grandiose plans to attract investments. The new international connections will also help NRIs,” said TTAA vice president. Dheeraj P.
