Visakhapatnam airport, the only international airport in the state of Andhra Pradesh, will re-start its commercial operations from October 17, with state-owned carrier Air India's Vizag to Hyderabad and Delhi to Vizag flights, according to Union civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
Cyclone Hudhud had snapped air connectivity with the Vizag airport. With the strong gales blowing away the roof and the flood water entering the runway, the airport authorities had suspended all operations since October 12.
"Our immediate focus is on restoration of the airport. There, however, will be some minor inconveniences to the passengers during this process," Raju told mediapersons here on Thursday.
The minister said the VIP lounge, for the time being, will be allocated to physically-challenged and senior citizens.
While the ATC (air traffic control) tower is functioning as usual, the radar antenna had been completely damaged, which will be restored shortly, he said.
"Arrangements are being made to facilitate 19 more flights from various carriers in a month even as we are gearing up to handle international flights from November," Raju said, adding the entire operations of the airport would be restored to normalcy within three months from now.
src:sify.com