Visakhapatnam Airport

During the Second World War, an airstrip was constructed at Visakhapatnam for the usage of the Royal Air Force. After a period of disuse after the end of the war, the airport was opened for civil operations in 1962. However, services were stopped soon due to poor patronage, and regular flights resumed only in 1976.^[4]

The Indian Navy started aviation operations in December 1972, and a helipad along with hangars were set up adjacent to the airfield in 1976. On 12 March 1986, the ownership of the airport was transferred from the National Airports Authority of India (later Airports Authority of India) to the Indian Navy, and the airport was designated as 'Naval Air Station, Visakhapatnam' with additional hangars, maintenance facilities and an operations complex were constructed soon after. On 21 October 1991, the air station was renamed and formally commissioned as INS Dega.^[5][6]

The airport underwent expansion and modernisation beginning in 2002, with a new runway and passenger terminal planned as a part of the expansion plan. The new runway was inaugurated on 15 June 2007 and was opened for commercial traffic from 30 March 2008. A new terminal building was built at a cost of ₹950 million (equivalent to ₹2.4 billion or US$25 million in 2023), and inaugurated on 20 February 2009.^[4][7][8] On 17 November 2011, the ICAO airport code was changed from VEVZ to VOVZ.^[9] Night operations began in the airport in 2012.^[8]

In October 2014, the airport suffered extensive damage due to the cyclone Hudhud, and had to undergo a significant rebuild.^[4] In 2022, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Indian Navy signed an agreement to move the civilian operations from the airport to the planned new airport at Bhogapuram in phases over the next 30 years. About 170 acres (69 ha) of the airport would be controlled by the navy and the remaining space would be managed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for civilian flights.^[10][11] In 2023, AAI proposed a new terminal to be built at a cost of ₹2.4 billion (US$25 million), with four additional parking bays and a new apron.^[12]

The commercial operations will be transferred to the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport effective 17 August 2026 and the existing IATA code of the airport being transferred to the new airport.^[13][14]

The airport is spread over an area of 350.31 acres (141.77 ha) with 276.89 acres (112.05 ha) in use.^[15] The airport has a single operational run way–the 3,050 m × 45 m (10,007 ft × 148 ft) runway 10/28, equipped with CAT-1 Instrument landing system and night landing capabilities.^[15][16] The old 1,829 m × 45 m (6,001 ft × 148 ft) runway 05/23 is not in use, and is used by the navy for parking aircraft. There are three taxiways designated from N3 to N5.^[15] There are 16 parking bays for aircraft situated across two aprons (nine in old apron and seven in extended apron), three of which are fitted with jet bridges. There are also three remote parking bays, three parking bays for cargo aircraft, and isolated bays for navy aircraft.^[15][16]

The Scheduled commercial operations at Visakhapatnam Airport are planned to cease on 16 August 2026, with civil flight operations expected to transfer to Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport from 17 August 2026.^[17]