Vijayawada to America: A Tough Task, But Not Impossible!

The MPs from Machilipatnam and Vijayawada made assurances about international flight operations from their constituencies but their promises might not be realized very soon.

Recently, the MPs attended the Airport Advisory Committee meeting in New Delhi and since then there has been discussion on the Vijayawada-New York direct flight. To commence the services, the officials are still considering the feasibility factor.

At present, there are three flights to New Delhi from Vijayawada. Of the 120 people boarding every flight, around 60 per cent are travelling to foreign countries including America and other nations, according to the airport officials.

According to a survey, there are several hurdles in commencing the Vijayawada-New York flight at present. It is highly impossible to run the flight, without clearing the hurdles. A majority of the passengers heading to Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru or Hyderabad from Vijayawada, go to foreign countries, according to another survey held in the past.

However, a comprehensive survey should be conducted to know about the exact number of passengers going to America from Vijayawada and also the specific locations to which they are heading from there. It should be known if the passengers are going to New York, Chicago or to San Francisco.

It should also be understood if the passengers would be ready to travel in the Vijayawada-New York flight even when their destination is not New York. Further, it would be viable for the airlines only if they run a 350-400 passenger capacity flight. Is there so much traffic between Vijayawada and New York on a daily basis?

In addition, the officials should also enumerate all the options available for the passengers to travel to foreign countries. Under the Viability Gap Fund method, the state government can run 120-seater flights from Vijayawada to Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and other countries to study how the services can be run profitably.

In the same manner, flights should be run to Singapore and Dubai for commercial purposes to gain complete knowledge about the demand for international travel. This could bring some clarity on the sustainability of the Vijayawada-New York flight.

Above all, a nod from the Civil Aviation ministry alone will not suffice for launching the flight service. The foreign and commercial taxes ministries should also work in coordination with the civil aviation ministry to make the Vijayawada-New York flight a reality.

Finally, an airline should be ready to run an aircraft between the two destinations. Given these obstacles, it should be seen when the foreign flight would really take off from Vijayawada, even when a Telugu MP K. Ram Mohan Naidu is heading the Union civil aviation ministry.