Navy officials request rescheduling of flight shutdown hours

Visakhapatnam: Representatives of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation, CII-Visakhapatnam, Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), AP Air Travellers Association (APATA) appealed to the naval authorities to reschedule the closure of runway for night flying operations at Visakhapatnam International Airport. President of AP Chambers Pydah Krishna Prasad, vice-president Sudhir Mulagada, chairman of CII-Visakhapatnam P P Lal Krishna, president of APATA K Kumar Raja, vice-president DS Varma, among others requested the naval authorities to reschedule the closure hours from 11 pm to 6:30 am the next day instead of 9 pm to 8 am the next day for the proposed resurfacing works. The timings, they said, were scheduled in non-peak hours and hence requested to minimise the impact on the passenger movement by rescheduling it. It may be recalled that the naval authorities have proposed to close the main runway which is also utilised by civil flights at Visakhapatnam International Airport from 9 pm to 8 am daily from November 15 to March next to facilitate resurfacing works. Following international seminars scheduled in December, the APATA representatives said a number of experts are expected to arrive during the time and the closure of the flight service would impact tourism during the peak season.