24/7 flights from Visakhapatnam

The long-cherished dream of the coastal Andhra people for 24/7 flight operations from Visakhapatnam has finally come true on Friday.

The Union finance ministry and the defence ministry have issued all the clearances including funding and staff recruitment to run the flights 24/7 from Visakhapatnam airport.

Finance minister P Chidambaram has communicated to Purandeswari a copy of the approval given to the proposal of the ministry of defence for creation of additional posts of 24 officers, 356 sailors and 27 civilians with financial implication of Rs 12.68 crores Later in the evening, Union minister of state for defence MM Pallam Raju also communicated to Purandeswari that his ministry had cleared all the bottlenecks and was sending the final approval to the officials concerned for operation of the round-the-clock flights from Visakhapatnam Airport.

Speaking to Express, Purandeswari expressed her happiness as her continuous efforts for the last two-anda- half years for round-theclock flight operations from Visakhapatnam airport have come true.

“I have written more than 50 letters to various dignitaries including the civil aviation minister, the finance minister, the defence minister and the prime minister to impress upon the the need to indroduce 24/7 flight operations from the city.

Besides, I have personally met the dignitaries to explain about the industrial growth in the region,” Purandeswari said.