Bhogapuram Airport May Take Flyers Away From Hyderabad

Bhogapuram Airport is not just a new airport for North Andhra. It can also change air travel patterns in this region. From 17 August 2026, scheduled commercial flights serving Visakhapatnam are expected to shift from the present Visakhapatnam Airport at INS Dega to the new Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, and the VTZ airport code is also expected to move there.

This means Bhogapuram will not start as a small new airport without passengers. It will directly inherit the existing Visakhapatnam air travel market, which has already grown strongly. Visakhapatnam Airport’s passenger traffic increased from 10.98 lakh in 2014-15 to 29.68 lakh in 2025-26, showing nearly 170 percent growth in 11 years.

The real impact will be on Hyderabad Airport’s connecting passengers. Many people from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, parts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh currently use Hyderabad for onward domestic and international flights. The Vizag-Hyderabad route already has strong demand, with around 11 daily flights shown on booking platforms, which proves that a large number of passengers move between these two cities.

Once Bhogapuram gets better direct flights to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and possible international destinations, some passengers who earlier travelled through Hyderabad may prefer Bhogapuram. This will reduce North Andhra’s dependence on Hyderabad Airport, especially for business travellers, students, tourists and families travelling abroad.

A realistic estimate is that Hyderabad Airport may lose around 1.5 lakh to 2.5 lakh passengers per year in the initial stage due to this diversion. If Bhogapuram gets strong international routes in the future, the diversion could rise to around 3 lakh to 5 lakh passengers annually. However, this will depend on airline interest, ticket prices, road connectivity, flight timings and passenger convenience.

Still, Hyderabad Airport will not be badly affected overall. Hyderabad handled around 29.5 million passengers in FY25, which is much larger than the Visakhapatnam market. Hyderabad will continue to remain a major hub because of its IT, pharma, business, education, medical travel and international connectivity.