With road and metro rail links to Bhogapuram still several years away, stakeholders in north Andhra Pradesh have renewed demands to continue civil operations at INS Dega even after the commissioning of Bhogapuram International Airport. The new airport is expected to begin commercial operations from June. Officials said close to 80 per cent of the airport infrastructure at Bhogapuram, including the terminal building and internal approach roads, has already been completed. However, inadequate external connectivity remains a key concern. Making a case for parallel operations, Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers Association president and IT entrepreneur Naresh Kumar said the proposed six-lane beach corridor between Visakhapatnam and Bhogapuram would take at least another three years to complete. He added that the planned Metro Rail link from Bhogapuram to the steel plant and the proposed 12 flyovers between Madhurawada and the steel plant are also likely to take around three years. “With nearly 5,000 vehicles being added to the city every month, traffic congestion in Visakhapatnam has worsened during peak hours with the existing road infrastructure,” Kumar said. He noted that while the economy had gained momentum with large investments under the present government, infrastructure expansion had not kept pace with industrial growth and rising vehicle numbers. Kumar pointed out that major industrial clusters such as Atchutapuram SEZ, Pharma City and the steel plant, together accounting for around 0.1 million frequent flyers, are located far from Bhogapuram, making the continued operation of the city airport essential. Supporting this view, CREDAI Visakhapatnam unit president Ashok Kumar said operating both airports in parallel would promote balanced regional development. Drawing a comparison with Goa, he noted that Dabolim airport continues to handle substantial traffic even after the opening of Manohar International Airport, helping tourism and trade through better traffic distribution. Notably, the Airports Authority of India had stated in 2018 that it did not favour the closure of the Visakhapatnam airport, citing the scale of investments already made there. With Andhra Pradesh targeting a $125–135 billion economy by 2032–35, stakeholders believe retaining both airports has become a strategic necessity for sustaining growth in north Andhra Pradesh. In 2025, the Visakhapatnam international airport handled more than 2.75 million passengers, nearly 19,000 flights and about 4,900 metric tonnes of domestic cargo, while recording an on-time performance of 81.5 per cent and expanding its international connectivity.