Vijayawada airport expansion at a standstill

Vijayawada: The inordinate delay in land acquisition has brought expansion of the Vijayawada airport at Gannavaram to a standstill. Except for a small portion, no major expansion work has been carried out even five years after launching the project.
The state government entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for expansion and development of the airport.As per the MoU signed in February 2007, a modern passenger terminal building and hangars were to be built by 2009. The expansion of the runway to 10,500 ft, construction of the terminal buildings, technical buildings, air traffic control (ATC) tower, isolation bay, fire station, mechanical and electrical section, new engineering section and expansion of the apron are yet to take off.
The AAI sought 491 acres of land for and survey of the land was completed but the state government is yet to release a notification for land acquisition.
According to sources, the vital instrument landing system (ILS) had been installed at the airport to facilitate smooth landing and take-off of planes.
But it has not become operational yet as the calibration procedures have not been completed by the AAI so far.
22/01/12 New Indian Express/IBN Live

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Categories: airports Jan 2012