Visakhapatnam: Omicron scare dashes travel operators' hopes of revival
We are upset that the scare of new variant of virus has led to postponement of regular international flights at a time when Scoot announced revival of flight service to Hyderabad and was in the process of re-launching its service to Visakhapatnam – K Vijay Mohan, TTAA president
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: The hopes of revival of international flights by the tour operators of Andhra Pradesh are dashed following a scare triggered by Omicron, the new variant of concern.
The announcement by the Government of India to remove curbs from December 15 had raised hopes among the stakeholders in the Covid-hit travel industry on the possible revival of holiday and business travel to various destinations in Singapore, Thailand and parts of Gulf and South East Asian countries.
Before the pandemic broke out, Visakhapatnam International Airport had flights to Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. However, the successive lockdowns and curbs on international travel following increase in Coronavirus cases dealt a body blow to all those who were eking out a living from sale of tickets and organising package trips/business events.
Before Covid, Silkair operated a flight to Vijayawada from Singapore but due to viability gap funding issues, they had withdrawn the service post-bifurcation. Silkair operated a flight to Visakhapatnam for sometime and later Scoot replaced it due to growing demand for low-cost travel. "We are very upset that the scare of new variant of virus has led to postponement of regular international flights at a time when Scoot announced revival of flight service to Hyderabad and was in the process of re-launching its service to Visakhapatnam," Tours and Travels Association of Andhra (TTAA) president K Vijay Mohan told Bizz Buzz.
He said after Scoot, they expected AirAsia, Air India and others to reintroduce flights to Visakhapatnam. "We are hopeful that the new variant of the virus will not spread to India and will be brought under control in South Africa and other countries," he said. Visakhapatnam Airport which is owned by the Indian Navy is also open to commercial flights. There are plans to construct a Greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram, about 50 km from here by GMR Group. During August, the Airport Authority of India launched N5 taxi track at Visakhapatnam to improve the operational efficiency.
