Kadapa, Warangal airports to be revived

Andhra to sign MoUs with Airports Authority India.

The investment and infrastructure (I&I) department of the Andhra Pradesh government will sign MoUs with the Airports Authority India (AAI) in the first week of February for reviving Kadapa and Warangal airports.

The AAI will undertake the development of infrastructure at these two airports with a token participation by the state government, chief minister's office said here today.

The commercial operation of flights to Kadapa and Warangal airports is proposed to start from the end of December 2007, and the AAI is expected to complete the upgradation project at the airports in two years, according to officials.

A high-level meeting held by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on the airport connectivity to tier-2 cities of the state, has also decided to undertake a techno-economic feasibility study for establishing new airports at Nellore, Ongole, Ramagundam and Tadepalligudem.

The state government has also designated the I&I department as the nodal agency for the development of all these greenfield airports. The expansion of the existing six airports are currently being handled by the roads and buildings department.

According to officials, the expansion plans of the airports at Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Vijayawada (Gannavaram) and Rajahmundry are in the final stages and the district authorities are in the process of providing the required land to the AAI for the purpose.

The state government has lined up plans to improve the air connectivity across the state to facilitate industrial and tourism development.

The government is also planning to develop smaller ports across the 1,000-km long sea coast in a bid to promote port-based economy.

Meanwhile, the Kingfisher Airlines has announced the launch of its service to Puttaparthi, the only private operational port in the state, from Hyderabad from January 22, 2007.