The non-inclusion of Visakhapatnam in the list of bilateral cities from which foreign airlines can operate flights to the Gulf countries appears to be coming in the way of the growth of the city airport, despite it being the only operational international airport in Andhra Pradesh.

A large number of passengers flying to Dubai and onward destinations from the Visakhapatnam region and there has been a good demand for the introduction of a direct flight from Vizag to Dubai.

The Air India flight from Vizag to Dubai via Hyderabad has been receiving a good patronage since its launch in 2012, according to sources.

Permission denied

 The passengers from Vizag have been complaining about the inordinate delay’ by the stopover flight. The Flydubai has been trying to start operations from Vizag for the past four years, but is yet to get the mandatory permission.

Air Arabia and Saudi Arabian airlines have expressed interest to operate from Visakhapatnam but were denied permission on the plea of lack of bilateral agreements and exhaustion of the bilateral quota. The non-inclusion of Vizag in the list of bilateral cities prevents foreign airlines from allocating their unused quota of seats, at other airports such as Hyderabad and Kochi to Vizag, says Vizag Development Council vice-president O. Naresh Kumar.

Pointing out that around 25 % of the passengers from Vizag travel to Dubai for jobs and the remaining to the U.S. and Europe, Mr. Naresh Kumar said passengers going by the AI Dubai flight need to go for a fresh baggage check and get boarding passes for their onward journey.

The Flydubai can offer direct boarding passes and baggage checks to the passengers from Vizag bound to onward destinations such as the U.S. and Europe by connecting the Emirates flights, he says.

According to Vizag airport Director G. Prakash Reddy, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation is discouraging new bilateral agreements with foreign airlines for flying from Indian airports to the Middle East countries.

However, the airlines registered in India will not have any restriction on flying from Indian airports to those countries. The bilateral agreements forged with foreign airlines in the past are, however, continuing, he told The Hindu.

Meanwhile, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) feels that the open sky policy should be made applicable to Visakhapatnam airport too, saying that the move would rope in international operators in a big way.

Open sky policy

Bilateral agreements based on reciprocity are outdated. Once you open up the skies, airline operators will queue up to operate from Visakhapatnam and other Indian airports, IATO president Subhash Goyal had said at the International Airlines Summit organised by the A.P. Air Travellers Association, in the city a few years ago.