Visakhapatnam Airport is a customs airport in

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It also operates as a

civil enclave A joint-use airport is an aerodrome that is used for both military aviation and civil aviation. They typically contain facilities of both a civil airport and a military air base. By country United States The United States has several joint-use ...

on an

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

airbase named INS ''Dega''. It lies between the city localities of NAD X Road and

Gajuwaka Gajuwaka is a major residential area of Visakhapatnam City, India. This neighborhood of Visakhapatnam is considered the biggest shopping district in Andhra Pradesh by revenue. Though conceived as a residential locality, it is now one of the pri ...

. The airport covers an area of 350 acres. The airport has experienced significant growth since the beginning of the 21st century, with the construction of a new terminal and runway and the commencing of international flights. The airport covers an area of 350 acres.

History

In 1981, the airport commenced civilian operations with one flight per day. The original runway was long. A new long and wide runway was inaugurated on 15 June 2007 to accommodate medium-sized and wide-body aircraft, with the installation and calibration of an

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS) on Runway 28 as well. Used initially only for military operations, the ILS became operational for commercial aircraft from 30 March 2008. A new terminal building was inaugurated on 20 February 2009 and became operational on 27 March that year. On 17 November 2011, the

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indicators'', a ...

was changed from VEVZ to VOVZ. In September 2022, the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited (APADCL) and

officials have signed a MOU in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

to move the civilian operations of Visakhapatnam Airport to the new

Bhogapuram Bhogapuram is a village in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Bhogapuram mandal of Vizianagaram revenue division. Geography Bhogapuram is located at and at an altitude of . The village is spread ove ...

facility. The existing Visakhapatnam Airport is spread across 300 acres, out of which 170 acres will be handed over to the

and the remaining 130 acres to

Airport Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and ...

(AAI) as per the MOU rules.

Facilities

Structure

The passenger terminal can handle 700 arriving and 1300 departing passengers. It covers an area of 31,400 square meters. The airport has a total of 18 parking bays.

Runways

The airport has two runways. * Runway 10/28: , ILS CAT-1 equipped in Runway 28. * Runway 05/23:

Terminals

The passenger terminal was opened in 2009 and can handle 2 million passengers per annum. After seeing greater number of footfall, AAI started upgrading present terminal on either sides adding 10000 sqm to existing structure, making total area to 31000 sqm. The terminal has 20 check-in counters which include 11 immigration and nine customs counters. The terminal has three aerobridges. Also there are plans to increase new services, checkin counters, immigration counters, parking bays to present terminal. Also new n5 taxi track was opened in terminal to increase flight movements per hour to 15.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

INS ''Dega'' naval base

The

started aviation operations in Visakhapatnam in the late 1970s, with the construction of four helipads adjacent to the civil airfield. The airport at Visakhapatnam was transferred to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in 1981. Additional hangars, maintenance facilities, and an operations complex were constructed soon after. The air station was called "Naval Air Station, Visakhapatnam". On 21 October 1991, the air station was renamed and formally commissioned as INS ''Dega''. The base has two aprons and is home to several squadrons: INAS 311,

INAS 321 The INAS 321 is an Indian naval air squadron based at INS Shikra, Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial cen ...

, INAS 333, and INAS 350.

References

External links

* {{Portalbar, India, Aviation Airports in Andhra Pradesh Transport in Visakhapatnam Buildings and structures in Visakhapatnam World War II sites in India Uttarandhra 1981 establishments in Andhra Pradesh