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avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Awaiting the green signal from the Indian Navy, G9, MI, FZ would launch flights to VTZ. The hurdle is that Vizag is does not operate from 8pm to 8am while the afore mentioned airlines want a night time slot.

1) Air Arabia: Looking to land at 4.30am and depart at 5.30 am

2) Flydubai: Looking to land at midnight and depart at 1am

3) Silk Air: Looking to land at 1am and depart at 2am

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Vizag-airport-awaits-Navy-nod-to-go-international/articleshow/6458411.cms

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:21 pm Post subject:

But hasn't the MoCa (since 2009) banned any future expansion by foreign carriers? Or do these airlines already have rights to fly to Vizag?
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Yeah.

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Air Arabia and Silk Air already have rights to fly to Vizag. Do not know about Flydubai, I think DXB has exhausted all its allocations.

iah87 · Member Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 2567

Vizag airport has night landing facility, but the airport is in the hands of Department of Navy and to date they will not grant permission. Better if AI launches the first service from Vizag to the Gulf.

jasepl · Member Joined: 26 Jul 2008 Posts: 4257 Location: bund-bay

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Singapore Airlines GM India operations G M Toh stated the carrier was seriously considering direct services between Singapore and Visakhapatnam, with the comments made after Singapore High Commissioner Karen Tan stated she would discuss with the carrier to potentially launch such services (PTI, 06-Mar-2012). Ms Tan noted there is significant potential for improving bilateral trade as well as promoting tourism and industrialisation if Singapore is linked with Visakhapatnam. Visakhapatnam Air Travellers Association (VATA) and Rushikonda Information Technology Park Association (RITPA) also highlighted the strong economic and commercial ties between the nations as well as the large number of Visakhapatnam ex-pats working in Singapore, currently estimated at 10,000. Currently passengers from Singapore must travel via Chennai or Hyderabad to reach Visakhapatnam.

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Visakhapatnam Airport operational hours extended to 23:00

28-Aug-12 10:32 AM

India's Ministry of Defence approved plans to extend the operational hours of Visakhapatnam Airport by three hours to 23:00 (TNN, 28-Aug-2012). Following the approval, the airport will be able to handle more late-night services, including a SilkAir service from Singapore, scheduled for launch in coming months.

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

SilkAir to launch Singapore-Visakhapatnam service on 28-Oct-2012

10-Sep-12 9:58 AM

SilkAir plans to launch Singapore-Visakhapatnam service on 28-Oct-2012 -(The Hindu, 08-Sep-2012). According to Innovata, SilkAir will operate three times weekly on the route using A319 equipment. SilkAir will be the sole operator of the route.

rajeev.jaya · Member Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 193 Location: Chennai

that is great news.
One more statio going international. Hope the route performs well so that more airlines look at Tier 2 cities for direct connections.
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Rajeev

rajeev.jaya · Member Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 193 Location: Chennai

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:15 pm Post subject:

rajeev.jaya · Member Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 193 Location: Chennai

In view of a large number of Sri Lankan employees working in Brandix and the opening up of the airport to international flights, a team of officials of Sri Lankan Airlines visited Vizag on Tuesday to explore the possibility of flying out of here.

Regional Manager of Indian Sub-Continent of Sri Lankan Airlines Lalith de Silva and Revenue Optimisation Manager of the airlines Dinesh Pathirana went around the city interacting with leading tour operators and persons from the hospitality industry.

Visibly impressed by the view of the hills and the sea, the regional manager felt that this could be a good tourist destination to promote. As there are no direct international flights from the city, it is difficult to get the actual data of how many travellers are heading to international destinations, Dinesh Pathirana said.

Tour operators

He was keen to gather information from the tour operators on the tickets they were issuing and group tours they were organising to international destinations.

The Brandix India Apparel City flies special cargo flights from the city and it also has a large number of Sri Lankan employees, director of Vihar Hospitality Mantri Seshagiri told the team during an interaction.

Also there are food processing units and pharma companies in the region which fly their cargo to international destinations, another director of Vihar Hospitality L. Kiran Kumar said. The team felt they could start their operations by flying the 120 seater aircraft as 60-70 per cent occupancy was sufficient to make it viable.

The airlines is likely to use the smaller aircraft of its subsidiary Air Lanka for its flights to the port city.
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Rajeev

Spiderguy252

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

ameya · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:03 pm Post subject:

MI448 SIN2025 - 2205 VTZ 2255 - 0555 SIN Wed,Fri,Sun A319

abhijith16 · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 1:48 pm Post subject:

Congrats to Vizakhapatnam (Sorry, I refuse to call it Vizag)! Wish them all the success for the future!
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ameya · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 1:49 pm Post subject:

50 min turn around + too close to watch hours (23:00 ) is my only worry. I am sure they will work out something

I guess there wouldnt be any catering uplift or crew change

rajeev.jaya · Member Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 193 Location: Chennai

Congrats VTZ.
Lets hope the route succeeds.
By the way, what would be the ptential from VTZ for a direct flight to SIN and how is CBE working for MI.
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Rajeev

iah87 · Member Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 2567

Has any airline applied for PNQ-SIN, I thought they relaxed the night landing at PNQ also.

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

ameya · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 11:42 pm Post subject:

luvleen · Member Joined: 02 Jul 2012 Posts: 179 Location: Bombay

MI has released its Vizag schedule..

Silk Air starting 28OCT12 is launching Singapore – Vishakhapatnam operation. This is the carrier’s 8th destination in India, which sees 3 weekly flights.

Singapore is Vishakhapatnam’s first international service. Schedule:

MI448 SIN2025 – 2205VTZ 319 357
MI447 VTZ2305 – 0620+1SIN 319 357

Service also operates with A320 on selected days.

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

ameya · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:28 am Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

ameya · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 9:50 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Thanks, Ameya! But PNQ - what will happen if Pune goes without flights for 45 days at a stretch? Ameya, what is the usual procedure once the MAFIa gets into action, how do airlines usually handle it?
Thanks, Sumantra.

rajeev.jaya · Member Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 193 Location: Chennai

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-14/visakhapatnam/36332439_1_visakhapatnam-airport-air-travellers-d-varada-reddy

December 2012 turned out to be an important milestone for the Visakhapatnam Airport as the number of air travellers using this facility crossed the one lakh mark - an all-time high in a single month, ever since it was inaugurated about four years ago.

The number of air travelers, both domestic and international, stood at 1,01,216 in December. The spurt in number of air travellers in the last month of 2012 took the total number of passengers to 7.6 lakh. According to Visakhapatnam Airport director K Srinivasa Rao, the peak seasons are May and December. He said that in May 2012, the airport had reached the 98,000 mark.

Observing the increase in air travellers, Rao said, "As compared to a year-on-year data, the airport has witnessed a growth of more than 13% in April to December last year."

With two international flights operating from Visakhapatnam Airport, the international air travellers' footfall has been recorded as 25,608, according to details available from March 25 to December 16. With 32 flights (16 arrivals and 16 departures) operating and increasing number of travellers, demand for 24-hour operations are gaining ground among the community of frequent flyers.

Adding credence to the demand is the high occupancy levels observed in the flights. According to sources, the flight occupancy in majority of other airports in the country is around 65%. Not lagging behind these, airlines flying in and out of Vizag Airport are witnessing 95% occupancy levels, except for the flight to Tirupati. Even the three flights operating to Singapore have witnessed more than 70% occupancy rate on a consistent basis, sources said.

Endorsing the demand, director of Frontline Travels Private Limited K S R K Prasad said, "It's definitely needed. The government has given the clearance, but the navy is saying that they are short-staffed."

Visakhapatnam Air Travellers Association (Vata) president Cheruvu Ramakotaiah said it's high time the navy took measures to operate the airport 24 hours. Stressing the need for additional flights, he said, "Many people would like to arrive and depart the same day owing to their tight schedules. But they are being forced to stay for an extra day only because there are no flights at night."

At the same time, Air Travellers Association (ATA) of India president D Varada Reddy said, "The ministry of finance and defence have already given approval for recruiting 300 plus personnel for operations in October itself. The navy is saying it needs one-and-half years to train them and make the airport operational for 24-hours." He said that only non-technical staff is necessary for making the airport function round-the-clock as all the technical team is already in place. "They only need clerical and administrative staff, which they can redeploy from INS Circars."

SOURCE TOI
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Rajeev