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Kadapa Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Operator | Airports Authority of India | ||||||||||
| Serves | Kadapa | ||||||||||
| Location | Kadapa,Andhra Pradesh,India | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1953; 72 years ago (1953) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 430 ft / 131 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 14°30′36″N078°46′22″E / 14.51000°N 78.77278°E /14.51000; 78.77278 | ||||||||||
| Website | Cuddapah Airport | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
.svg)  CDP Location of airport in Andhra Pradesh Show map of Andhra Pradesh CDP CDP (India) Show map of India | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (April 2023 - March 2024) | |||||||||||
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| Source:AAI[1][2][3] | |||||||||||
Kadapa Airport (IATA:CDP,ICAO:VOCP) is adomestic airport servingKadapa (formerly Cuddapah) inAndhra Pradesh,India. It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) from the city, and is spread over 669.5 acres (270.9 ha) of land. It has been upgraded at a cost of ₹ 42 crore. The upgraded airport was inaugurated on 7 June 2015 by the thenMinister of Civil Aviation,Ashok Gajapathi Raju.[4] The terminal building has a capacity to handle 100 peak hour passengers at a time and the apron can accommodate sevenATR-72 type aircraft.[5]
The airport was constructed in 1953, and initially had a 3,500 ft (1,067 m) runway. In the 1980s,Vayudoot operated services to Kadapa fromHyderabad. The State Government and theAirports Authority of India (AAI) entered into amemorandum of understanding in March 2007 for developing the existing airports at Kadapa andWarangal to handleATR-42 andATR-72 type of aircraft.[6]
In 2009, a new 6,562 ft × 150 ft (2,000 m × 46 m) runway was completed under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis at a cost of ₹ 21 crore. In addition, an 11 km-long (6.8-mile) compound wall was constructed with an outlay of ₹ 24 crore. In the second phase, an air traffic control building, passenger terminal, parking bays and internal roads were built at a cost of ₹ 13 crore. Other facilities were developed at an estimated cost of ₹ 8 crore.[7]
Scheduled commercial flights to the airport resumed on 7 June 2015 whenAir Pegasus launched thrice weeklyATR 72 service toBengaluru.[4] However, flights were soon cancelled due to poor passenger loads.[8] In April 2016,TruJet introduced flights toHyderabad, which were too cancelled after a few months.[9]
The airport was one of the 70 airports selected under the government'sUDAN scheme to increase regional air connectivity. In March 2017, TruJet reintroduced daily flights to Hyderabad in September 2017, toMysore viaChennai in November 2017, and toVijayawada in March 2018.[10] The airport is now connected byIndiGo with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, andVisakhapatnam.[11]
The existing terminal has mostly basic facilities available due to its small size. It has booking counters, check-in kiosks, seating areas, conveyor belts, baggage handling and scanning systems, washrooms, CCTVs, restaurants, a few retail stores and souvenir shops, a lost and found service, free WiFi, child care facilities, cargo handling services, medical facilities, facilities for physically challenged passengers, duty free, porter service, foreign exchange counters and tourist information desks.[12]
The airport has a passenger terminal covering an area of about 1,250 m2 (13,500 sq ft) and is capable of handling over 100 passengers during peak hours and 100,000 passengers annually, anAir Traffic Control (ATC) tower, a fuel and a fire station, a technical block, anapron for handling sevenATR-72 type aircraft, with two taxiways connecting to the runway, and the runway, oriented 11/29, which has been extended from 2,000 m (6,600 ft) to 2,514 m (8,248 ft) in February 2024, making it capable of serving narrowbody aircraft like theAirbus A320 andBoeing 737.[12]
The airport has been under development since 2007. As of April 2024, the runway has been extended to 2,514 m (8,248 ft) with a width of 45 m (148 ft) from 1,517 m (4,977 ft) and 2,000 m (6,600 ft), respectively, and the apron has been expanded to handle sevenATR-72 type aircraft from only two aircraft at a time in 2023. The existing terminal was built in 2012.[7] In order to cater to the growing traffic, demands and stimulate socio-economic development andtourism in the state, a new terminal was proposed by theAirports Authority of India (AAI) and theGovernment of Andhra Pradesh, which will be much larger than the existing terminal. Hence, the new terminal'sfoundation stone was laid byPrime MinisterNarendra Modi on 10 March 2024.[13]
The new terminal will be built adjacent to the existing terminal to its east, at an estimated cost of₹266 crore (US$31 million). It will be spread across an area of 16,455 m2 (177,120 sq ft) and will be equipped with 24 check-in counters, two conveyor belts, three X-ray baggage scanning machines, a parking space for accommodating 375 cars and threeaerobridges. It will have a peak-hour serving capacity of 1,800 people and an annual footfall of 2.5 million passengers. The terminal will also have several other facilities and amenities to enhance passenger experience, ensure efficiency and conservation of the environment, like escalators, elevators, restaurants, retail stores, lounges, specialised facilities for physically challenged and senior citizen passengers, adequate greenery in its premises, rainwater harvesting systems and consuming electricity through solar power. In addition to the terminal, the key roads connectingKadapa toBengaluru,Tirupati, andNellore will be widened to strengthen thedistrict's connectivity and infrastructure, owing to increased traffic flow on the roads after the completion of the terminal. Construction on the terminal will begin in the latter half of 2024, and will be completed by 2-3 years, i.e., 2026/27.[14][15]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| IndiGo | Chennai,Hyderabad,Vijayawada |
