Warangal airport work set to take wings soon

Hyderabad: Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Sunday said that the Airport Authority of India was ready with a master plan of the Airport at Warangal and would start the groundwork once the Telangana government hands over the land to the AAI.

In the first phase, considering the capacity of the airport, the terminal building will be constructed with an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore. The terminal building will reflect the culture and grandeur of Warangal, said Ram Mohan Naidu.

The Union Minister made these comments while addressing a press conference along with Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy here in the city on Sunday. Ram Mohan Naidu revealed that within eight months the airport got clearance from the Centre. There were two reasons for delay – it had 690 acres of land and there were two criss-cross runways. The runway is 1,800 metres and for operating Airbus and big flights, 2,800 meters runway was required and this needed additional land. “The Centre asked the state government to allocate 280 acres of land many times so that we can have an airport under the UDAN scheme. There was no support from the state government. The second issue was getting NOC from Shamshabad Airport but there were no attempts by the state government to get the NOC.

Naidu said that in the coming days, a marvellous airport would come up at Warangal. The AAI will take all the responsibility. We already prepared a master plan. The building will showcase the Warangal rich history. We have readied the plans. Once they give to AAI, programmes will be started,” said Naidu.

The Union Minister said that the Ministry would take a decision on having another airport at Bhadradri Kothagudem after getting a feasibility report from the study team. He said, “Earlier state government showed some place, but because of hills and geographical structures, it was found not feasible and again in January 2023, the Ministry sent a feasibility study team. They have sought details from the Indian Meteorological Department. Once we get data, we will take decision on having another airport in the State,” said Ram Mohan Naidu, adding that he feels this as his fortune to give clearance to the airport.

The Minister recalled that Warangal had an airport even in the pre-Independent era, which was the biggest airport in the country. There were cargo services, and Vayu Doot flights also landed. Warangal was a main centre for the country. Once Hyderabad grew as the state capital, all got concentrated here, he said.

Naidu said that after the Narendra Modi government came into power, a new revolution had started in the aviation sector. “There were 76 airports before Modi arrived. During the ten years, because of the decisions of Modi and giving priority to civil aviation, we have 150 airports. No other country has seen such development. Because of his reforms, we could develop airports at many places,” said Naidu. He revealed that many small towns utilised the UDAN scheme and got airports. Warangal used to come up in discussion but it was restricted only to discussion. He said that the airport would bring change in the entire region. It will have an impact on real estate, tourism, job creation, economic activity, manufacturing etc. He said that he was indebted to Telangana and stressed on the need to create an aviation hub.