Gannavaram airport

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42 minutes ago, adavilo_baatasaari said:

Good info. I read that Dubai was ready for flights to Vijayawada provided the runway is good which was worked out in the previous TDP regime.

But  Indian government wasn't ready to give Dubai more slots as all of them are currently booked.

There were two options 

1) The new Dubai airport being bigger will give Indian carriers more slots in Dubai, so Dubai can reciprocate and can allocate more  slots in Indian airports like Vijayawada.

2) Existing Mumbai to Dubai or Hyd to Dubai could start from Vijayawada.

Both these options needed political capital, not sure how easy was it in a coalition Governement with not much leverage.

The second option was more practical tha time.

But Raju garu as a aviation minister didn't help much that time.

Is that correct? What is your take on it?

Airport slots, when I salots that doesn't mean a time slot or location slot. It is a different type of slot, not usually dependent on airport size or location but it should be read as seats/week bi-directional.

Dubai-India has an agreement for 66000 seats per week capacity in both direction and this is the max they can operate. This figure is based on demand and other factors and the least is the airport size. Depending on this number, each country allocated airlines some slots, prime time slots which are premium and non-prime time slots. Connecting flights have higher ticket value than regular seats as they bring more onward revenue to the airport and the airline. This is the reason why Dubai is negotiating for a higher number of seats. At the same time, Emirates and FlyDubai carry 60% of the traffic and Indian carriers only 40% and in such cases the government usually wants the figure to be maintained at 50% for a fair share.

Secondly, the deal is not just for 66k seats per week but also for fixed number of cities which is currently at 15 and Vijayawada is not on the list. Its a weak and not a consistent demand.

Raju Garu when he was a minister could not be of any help as ram mohan naidu is now. Demand and sustainability Is what it matters. Its a open game and when governments and airlines see potential, they will keep that city on the radar.