KURNOOL: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday inaugurated Kurnool Airport located at Orvakal and named it after the first ever freedom fighter of the country, Uyyalavada Narasimha Reddy, as a tribute to him.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that the flight operations from the airport will commence from March 28, servicing to Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, and Chennai routes. He stated that the airport is equipped with all the latest technology, fine infrastructure, which can facilitate parking for four aircrafts at the same time. Stating that this will be the sixth civilian airport in the State after Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Rajamundry and Kadapa, the Chief Minister said that the airport was set up in the Judicial Capital of Andhra Pradesh, connecting to other states. He said the airport will make the judicial capital stand on par with other states.

Taking this occasion, the Chief Minister slammed the previous government for inaugurating an incomplete airport in a rush, just before the 2019 elections without even securing ATC and DGCA permissions or initiating flight services. He said that Chandrababu Naidu tried to use this as a political stunt, to get votes from the people of Kurnool. He said that the State government had developed the airport on a war footing within a year and a half by spending Rs 110 crore on completing all the pending works, building lounges, getting ATC and DGCA permissions, and even establishing power substations and two high-end fire engines were made available at the airport.

The Chief Minister thanked people for their support to the government leading to a landslide victory in the recent Gram Panchayat and Municipal polls. Further, the Chief Minister unveiled the statue of the former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy in front of the Airport Passenger Terminal building and inspected the buildings inside the airport. Later, the Chief Minister released a special postage stamp on the occasion of the inauguration of Kurnool Airport.

Ministers Buggana Rajendranath, Anil Kumar Yadav, Mekapati Gautam Reddy, MP Pocha Brahmananda Reddy, Gummanoor Jayaram, MLA Katsani Rambhupal Reddy, Kurnool MLA Hafeez Khan ,Special CS Karikal Valavan, District Collector G. Veerapandian, newly elected Kurnool Mayor, Corporators, Chairman of eight other Municipalities, Vice Chairmen, Ward Members, Local Sarpanches have taken part in the event.