Kadapa: Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju on Sunday said that the Kadapa airport in Andhra Pradesh will be named after 'Annamayya', the famous poet and worshipper of Lord Venkateshwara.
Raju along with Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Choudhary and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the airport on Sunday.
"Soon steps will be mooted from the state government and from the civil aviation department to name the airport as 'Annamayya airport,' Raju said.
"Air Pegasus will operate flights for three days between Bangalore and Kadapa. Later flight services will be increased and can be extended to Hyderabad, Chennai and Visakapatnam," he said.
The airport has been constructed by the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) at an investment of Rs 42 crore as part of the government's efforts to promote regional and remote area connectivity in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
"In future, steps will be taken to develop Kadapa airport to accommodate international flights also," said Raju, Member of Lok Sabha from Vizianagaram constituency in Andhra Pradesh.
"Soon flights will be operated to other countries from Visakapatnam," he said adding steps were being taken to develop Tirupathi and Vijayawada airports as international ones. CM Chandrababu Naidu said his government is committed for the all-round development of Kadapa district and said the much awaited 'Galeru-Nagiri irrigation project' would be completed within a year.
He also said a Haj house will be built here soon to facilitate pilgrims and the state government has plans to establish steel plant in the district. Venkaiah Naidu said both the Centre and state government are taking up many developmental works in Andhra Pradesh and will continue momentum of development here.
He said, "Congress party failed to give constitutional and legal assurances to AP at the time of bifurcation of the state and was now criticising Modi government for the present state of affairs here," he said terming the criticism as "baseless." "While in power, Congress did nothing for the state," he alleged.
