Tirupati Airport Gets e-Visa Entry Facility, Awaits International Flights

Tirupati:Tirupati international airport has been notified as an authorised entry point for foreign nationals holding Indian e-Visas, giving the airport an international entry facility even as it continues to wait for a scheduled international flight.

The Union home ministry, in a notification issued on Monday, added Tirupati and Bhopal airports to the list of international ports through which e-Visa holders can enter India. With the addition of the two airports, India now has 88 designated e-Visa entry points, including 37 airports, 38 seaports and 13 land ports.

Tirupati MP Dr Maddila Gurumurthy said the notification was an important step towards opening the airport to overseas travellers, but regular international connectivity would depend on an airline operating from Tirupati.

He said efforts were underway to discuss launching services from the airport with airlines, including IndiGo and Air India Express. However, the airlines have sought viability gap funding to offset their initial losses and support the launch of international flights.

The move is significant for Tirupati, which receives pilgrims from several countries for visits to Tirumala. Foreign devotees holding valid e-Visas can now use Tirupati airport as their authorised point of entry into India, subject to the availability of international flights. Until now, overseas visitors generally had to arrive at international airports such as Chennai, Bengaluru or Hyderabad and travel to Tirupati by road or domestic flight.

India introduced the e-Visa facility in 2014 for nationals of 43 countries to simplify the visa process, particularly for tourists. The facility has since expanded to 172 countries and is available under 17 categories. Around 95 per cent of e-Visa applications are processed within 72 hours, while nearly 78 per cent of visas issued by India are electronic.

For Tirupati, however, the latest notification does not resolve the issue of international connectivity. The Union Cabinet cleared the airport for international status in 2008, and the formal Gazette notification was issued in 2017\. Nearly nine years after the notification, the airport still has no scheduled international service. The civil aviation ministry, in a February 2025 reply in the Rajya Sabha, said airlines decide international routes based on bilateral air service agreements, market demand and their own policies.

Tirupati did handle an international charter flight in December 2024, when a service landed from Singapore. However, it did not lead to a scheduled commercial service. The airport has also received infrastructure upgrades, with its runway extended from 2,286 metres to 3,810 metres to facilitate Code E aircraft operations. The airport handled nearly 10 lakh passengers in 2024-25. Regular flights to Gulf destinations such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been a longstanding demand in the region, where many people travel for employment.