Vijayawada: Vijayawada city will host an international airlines summit in the third week of August to explore the potential to enhance both domestic and international routes from the city’s airport.
The Airport Authority of India, AP Aviation and the state government will be jointly organising the summit on the premises of the airport.
Representatives from 10 domestic airlines and 48 international airlines are being invited to take part in the summit so that it helps AAI identify the requirements of airlines to operate flights from Vijayawada airport to various parts of the country and also abroad.
At present, the Vijayawada airport is handling about one lakh passengers per month with the movement of aircraft ranging from 40 to 46 per day.
Airlines like Air India, Indigo, Spicejet and Truejet are operating from Vijayawada airport to as many as six destinations including New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kadapa at present.
The AAI intends to explore new avenues to encourage the airlines to operate more number of flights on various domestic and international routes based on patronage from the passengers and also financial viability.
Despite demand from air passengers to destinations like Ahmadabad, Surat, Pune and other places, no flights are being operated to these places at present as the airlines want more patronage and viability to start services on a regular basis.
Vijayawada International Airport director G. Madhusudhana Rao said, “The main objective in planning to organise the International Airlines Summit under the joint aegis of AAI, AP Aviation and AP government is to identify specific requirements of airlines and also any concessions from them to operate aircraft from Vijayawada airport for the benefit of air passengers from city.”
