Bhogapuram airport opens on the Visakhapatnam coast, and Andhra Pradesh has its second international terminal

At Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport on Saturday, opening Andhra Pradesh's second international airport roughly 45 km north of Visakhapatnam along the coast road.

The airport was built by Larsen & Toubro and developed and operated by the GMR group. The project has been carried by successive Andhra Pradesh governments since 2015-16, and the site itself was handed over in September 2024, when land at the old INS Dega naval enclave was transferred for the airport and the approach road.

What has been built

• Runway 10/28, 3,800 metres long and 45 metres wide.
• A passenger terminal of 77,342 square metres, with 22 check-in counters and 18 baggage belts.
• A cargo terminal of about 5,000 square metres, designed to handle 25,000 tonnes a year.
• A first-phase design capacity of roughly 6.3 million passengers a year, with later phases planned to go higher.

Capacity is the number to watch. A 6.3 million-passenger first phase sits between a domestic-only runway and a genuine international gateway, and the gap between those two descriptions is where the airport's commercial case will be decided.

The terminal is named for Alluri Sitarama Raju, the Telugu rebel leader of the 1920s and 1930s whose revolt against British rule became the emblem of the state. The naming was contested during the project's long gestation and was settled by the state government before the opening.

The government and the operator both framed the ceremony as the start of a phased entry into service, with scheduled domestic operations expected from the middle of August rather than on inauguration day. Freight, passengers and defence-related expectations have all been attached to the site over the years, which is why the schedule has moved more than once.

• Whether the scheduled services announced for August actually fill the terminal, or run thin for the first quarter.
• How cargo demand develops against a design capacity of 25,000 tonnes a year.
• Whether the phase-one cost gap between official and press reporting is explained in the accounts.