Test flight lands at Bhogapuram airport in Andhra Pradesh, commercial operations expected from June

Bhogapuram (Andhra Pradesh) [India], January 4 (ANI): The greenfield Bhogapuram International Airport in Andhra Pradesh witnessed a successful validation flight on Sunday, marking a significant milestone ahead of its planned commercial operations from June 2026.
In a post on X, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu congratulated the people of Andhra Pradesh, especially Uttarandhra, on the successful validation flight of the Bhogapuram Greenfield International Airport.
"Today marks a new milestone for aviation in the state, strengthening regional connectivity and giving a major boost to Uttarandhra as the region prepares to take off. I thank Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji for his vision, leadership, and commitment to the progress of Andhra Pradesh," he posted on X.
The airport, planned and initiated between 2014 and 2019, will be ready to serve the people with commercial flight operations from June, the chief minister announced in a post on X.
Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu told ANI that the Bhogapuram Airport is a prestigious project with the potential to unlock significant regional development.
"Considering this area needs a lot of development to be unlocked, we are seeing this as the key to that unlocking of the development, and this has been envisioned by our Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu. It has been a dream project for the people here also and I'm very happy to see that the validation flight has happened today successfully and very soon we are going to start operations also here and the airport is not only to cater for connectivity but we are also looking into skilling the EDU City is one of the first kind of initiative across the world where you can have multiple universities institutions working in the same place training youngsters training passionate people in aviation to go up to global standards..."
The aircraft is going to increase in the country in the times to come, and that will necessitate more need maintenance facilities.
"As a ministry, we want to encourage more MRO in the country itself. Bhogapuram is an ideal location logistically, strategically, geographically, every way you see it...," he said.
Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, posted on X that the state accelerates on its growth runway, marking a significant milestone for Vision Vizag.
"Congratulations to the GMR Group for their exceptional efforts. During our tenure, expedited permissions, timely approvals and land acquisition including R&R with an outlay of close to Rs 960 crore, helped lay a strong foundation for steady progress. Significant portion of the project work was completed, which has been instrumental in achieving this milestone. I also fondly recall the efforts and contribution of Shri @nitin_gadkari Ji in approving the Bhogapuram Airport Bypass National Highway project in March 2023, connecting Visakhapatnam Port with Bhogapuram International Airport," Reddy posted on X. (ANI)