TIRUPATI: The Andhra Pradesh government announced that international flights would take off from the temple town of Tirupati's International Airport very soon thanks to the Government’s efforts.

The Tirupati Airport got international airport status in 2017, but due to several reasons, the international services could not take off. The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has focused on and this plans are on to run flights from Tirupati to world cities. AP Airport Development Corporation Limited (APADCL), local YSRCP MP M Gurumurthy, and airport authorities are in consultation with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and are planning to start services from Tirupati Airport to Kuwait first.

MP Gurumurthy requested the Union Civil Aviation Minister to start flights to Kuwait under Open Sky Policy as it may take a long time to start bilateral flights between the two countries. Officials said that there was no positive response from the Center when they asked for the allotment of 400 seats under this policy. Tirupati Airport Director Raj Kishore said that Air India Express had given a positive response to operating services from Tirupati to Kuwait. They said that they are also in touch with IndiGo and AirAsia carriers.

Speaking further he said that the airport has all the necessary facilities for customs and immigration, conveyor belts for the arrival and departure of foreign passengers among other facilities, for international services to commence immediately. He added that the Center is ready to appoint Immigration and Customs officers once the commencement of services.

Tirupati Airport is very convenient for the people of Rayalaseema, especially from Chittoor, Rajampet, Rayachoti, and Nellore, where there a large number of people are traveling to the Gulf countries for work. At present, all of them have to go to Chennai and fly from there. APADCL MD Bharat Reddy said that MP Gurumurthy is holding consultations with the Centre to start international services yielding fruitful results and very soon international services will start from Tirupati.

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