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Night flights from Andhra Pradesh‘s Visakhapatnam International Airport will be suspended for more than four months to facilitate resurfacing of the runway.
Night flights will be stopped from November 15 till the end of March 2024. No flights will be operated from 9 pm to 8 am.
The closure of the airport for 11 hours every day will affect 12 domestic flights and one international flight.
The Navy, which controls the airport, has informed the airlines about its decision to suspend the night flights to facilitate the work.
The old main runway (28/10) at Delhi Airport will be temporarily closed for approximately 75 days for comprehensive recarpeting and minor repairs, starting from September 11-13. The recently commissioned runway (29R-11L) is expected to be ready for both take-offs and landings by the end of this month. As the fourth operational runway, its readiness will not impact the airport’s flight handling capacity.
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) of the airport is under the control of the Navy whereas the Airports Authority of India (AAI) operated the civil enclave. Normally, the resurfacing of airport runways is done once in about 10 years. According to Visakhapatnam Airport director S. Raja Reddy the runway was last resurfaced in 2009.
The Airport director has sought a reduction of the closing time from 10.30 pm to 7 am to minimise the inconvenience to passengers. The AAI will take up the issue with the Navy headquarters.
The suspension of night flights for four months is also likely to affect the business of tour-and-travel operators during the winter tourism season. Tourists from different parts of the country visit the port city and the nearby tourist spots of Araku and Lambasingi after Dasara and till the end of January.
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