Centre will allow multiple airports in major cities, says Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu

The Union Government will allow the functioning of two or more airports in major cities in view of increased air passenger traffic across the country, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu has said.

“The Centre will review the existing policy that bars the functioning of two airports within 150 km radius,” Mr. Rammohan Naidu said after the successful first test flight at the Alluri Sitharama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district on January 4, 2026 (Sunday).

Replying to a query, the Union Minister said the government was already taking steps for the construction of new airports in Mumbai, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh (located about 42-km from New Delhi), Bengaluru, Parandur in Chennai and other cities.

“The government will accept the proposals for new airports when the existing airports reach saturation levels,” he said.

The Union Government was according top priority to the aviation sector by promoting new airports, along with the Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) facilities, to spur economic activity and ensure direct and indirect employment to many, Mr. Rammohan Naidu said.

Recalling the success story of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad in Telangana that had been established in 5,000 acres, the Union Minister credited the facility to the initiative taken by N. Chandrababu Naidu when he was Chief Minister of the unified State between 1995 and 2003.

He said the government would accord equal priority to the development of multiple access roads to all the airports as they, too, would indirectly spur economic activity and industrial progress.

Expressing confidence that the Bhogapuram airport would serve as a powerful growth engine that would create employment opportunities locally, Mr. Rammohan Naidu said, “The airport will strengthen trade, boost exports and unlock the immense tourism potential of Andhra Pradesh.”

Andhra Pradesh Minister for MSMEs Kondapalli Srinivas and GMR Group-Airports Business Chairman G.B.S. Raju exuded confidence that the North Andhra region would witness rapid growth with the development of the new international airport at Bhogapuram.