Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju confirmed that the Gannavaram airport will have to wait at least for another three years to get upgraded to International Airport. The minister is totally disappointed with the current airport at Gannavaram which he termed as worse than many bus stations in the state.
The present airport is too congested to make the passengers comfortable. The minister is displeased with district administration for failing to acquire land for the airport expansion. The district administration issued notification on land acquisition three months ago but no progress was made so far in it due to the opposition farmers who are mostly local TDP leaders.
Center already agreed to to release funds for the development of the airport. But the state government should acquire land and hand it over to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Mean while, passenger traffic has been steadily increasing at the city airport after the state division. So, AAI is currently focused on improving facilities at the airport to meet the requirements of passengers.
