Union Minister for Civil Aviation, K Ram Mohan Naidu, on Tuesday said that the Bhogapuram airport would be ready for commercial operation by 2026. He said that chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and deputy chief minister K Pawan Kalyan are serious on the Bhogapuram airport completion.

The Minister inspected the airport area on Tuesday. He interacted with the officials on the progress of the works. He said he would take special interest to get every clearance from the Central government for the airport. He would also give highest priority for the completion of the works of the airport, the Minister said.

He said that the airport is spread over 2,700 acres of land. The previous YSR Congress government had tried to reduce it by 500 acres. The previous government also did not focus on the airport and caused delays in the works, he said. He said that this government would complete the terminal building by December 2024.

The Union Minister said that he would take special interest to resolve small issues of the airport. The airport would create direct and indirect employment for over 6 lakh people, he said. People from south Odisha and Chhattisgarh are also expected to use this airport, once completed.

The Minister further said that they would link the airport from all sides with the highways. The state and the Central government would do everything to promote the Bhogapuram airport, the Minister said. He further added that he had taken the beach highway proposal also to the notice of the Central government. He expressed confidence that the Central government would clear the project and complete it at the earliest.

Vizianagaram Lok Sabha MP, Kalisetti Appala Naidu, MLAs Lokam Madhavi and Athidhi Gajapathi Raju, several officials were present during the Minister’s visit to the airport.