Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport
Bhogapuram Airport: the complete guide
Everything about the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport (ASR International Airport, IATA: VTZ) at Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram district — how it was built, what it can handle, and what it changes for North Andhra.
Why this airport matters
For seventy years, air travel in North Andhra ran through a civil enclave inside a naval air station. Bhogapuram ends that constraint.
Visakhapatnam's old airport was a civil enclave at INS Dega. It worked, but it was hemmed in by defence land and urban development, with effectively no room to lengthen the runway, build a larger terminal or add aircraft parking bays. Passenger growth had nowhere to go.
Bhogapuram was the answer: a greenfield site of 2,203 acres about 40 to 45 km north-east of Visakhapatnam, with roughly 500 acres deliberately held back for future expansion. That headroom is the whole point. The airport opens with capacity for six million passengers a year and a master plan that scales past 40 million.
The knock-on effects are already visible. Land along the Bhogapuram airport corridor has re-rated sharply, hospitality operators are moving into the Bhimli and Rushikonda belt, and the Araku, Borra and Buddhist circuits gain an international gateway an hour away.
Started?
Yes — flights from 17 Aug 2026
Airport code
VTZ · VOVI
To Vizag
40–45 km · about 1 hour
District
Vizianagaram, PIN 535216
Airlines
IndiGo, Air India, Scoot
Where
Bhogapuram, off NH-16
Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram district, off NH-16 — about 40–45 km from Visakhapatnam. Distance from Vizag →
| Official name | Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Bhogapuram International Airport, ASR Airport |
| IATA code | VTZ (transferred from Visakhapatnam on 17 August 2026) |
| Location | Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Inaugurated by | Prime Minister Narendra Modi · Saturday, 1 August 2026 |
| Commercial flights begin | Sunday, 17 August 2026 |
| Developer / operator | GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL) |
| Development model | Public-Private Partnership (PPP), DBFOT basis |
| Project cost | ₹5,640 crore |
| Total area | 2,203 acres (with ~500 acres reserved for future expansion) |
| Runway | 3,800 m Code 4E runway — among the longest in India |
| Aircraft handled | Wide-body ready: Boeing 777, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350 and Airbus A330 |
| Passenger terminal | 78,000 sq m integrated passenger terminal (Phase 1) |
| Cargo terminal | 5,000 sq m cargo terminal |
| Phase 1 capacity | 6 million passengers per annum |
| Ultimate capacity | 40+ million passengers per annum |
| Distance from Visakhapatnam | approximately 40–45 km from Visakhapatnam city |
| Named after | Alluri Sitarama Raju, the tribal freedom fighter of Andhra Pradesh |
What has actually been built
The specifications that determine which aircraft can land here, and how many people can move through the terminal.
How Bhogapuram airport came together
27 January 2016
Site clearance granted
Central site clearance for the Bhogapuram greenfield project is issued, with the condition that scheduled commercial services at the Visakhapatnam civil enclave would close once the new airport is commissioned.
2024 – 2026
Construction accelerates
GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL) pushes the terminal, the 3,800 m runway and landside infrastructure to completion, ahead of the original target date.
July 2026
Renamed and validated
A Ministry of Civil Aviation gazette notification formally renames the airport the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport. A validation flight lands successfully, and land prices along the corridor jump.
1 August 2026
Inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi
The Prime Minister inaugurates the airport alongside Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu, and dedicates projects worth over ₹17,900 crore.
17 August 2026
Commercial flights begin
The airport is commissioned at 12:01 am. The IATA code VTZ transfers from the Visakhapatnam civil enclave at INS Dega, where scheduled commercial operations cease for 30 years.
How big can it get?
The 2,203-acre site was sized so that each expansion phase is a build-out, not a rebuild.
| Phase | Capacity | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 (open now) | 6 million passengers a year | 78,000 sq m integrated terminal |
| Phase 2 | 12 million passengers a year | Terminal expansion on the master plan |
| Phase 3 | 18 million passengers a year | Further airside and landside build-out |
| Ultimate | 40+ million passengers a year | Full master-plan development |
Where is Bhogapuram airport and how do you reach it?
Short answer: about 40 to 45 km north-east of Visakhapatnam, roughly an hour by road on NH-16.
Most searched Bhogapuram airport questions
Bhogapuram airport: frequently asked questions
Direct answers to what people most often ask about the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport.
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