Defence Ministry, AAI to inspect runway

Visakhapatnam: The Defence Ministry and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) will conduct a joint inspection of the newly laid runway and other facilities at the Visakhapatnam airport on Friday.
Joint Secretary of Defence Ministry B. Vinay Kumar and AAI Chairman K. Ramalingam will be here for the purpose following a request by Visakhapatnam MP and former Chief Minister N. Janardhana Reddy to utilise the new facilities at the earliest.
Talking to mediapersons after a telephonic chat with officials concerned on Thursday, Mr. Reddy said: "When I urged the Defence Minister to commission the new runway, he told me that there were still some defects to be rectified and the work is not complete. So, I spoke to the Defence and Civil Aviation departments. Tomorrow, Mr. Vinay Kumar and Mr. Ramalingam will make a personal inspection of the runway and other facilities and take a decision. At least, we will know where we stand," he said.
Mr. Reddy hoped that the new runway would be commissioned at the earliest to pave way for increased traffic. While only about 10,000 or so travelled by air in a year a decade ago, their number increased to four lakhs now and it could go up further by next year in the fast growing city. Hence the need to open the airport to traffic round-the-clock on all 365 days, he pointed out.
25/05/07 Siasat Daily

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Categories: Airports May 2007