Airport gearing up to receive high-profile guests

VIJAYAWADA: The twin cities of Vijayawada and Guntur are getting ready in a big way for the swearing-in ceremony of chief minister-designate and Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, to be held on June 8.

While the district administrations of Krishna and Guntur are on their toes, all the departments concerned are busy making necessary arrangements.

In view of the arrival of VVIPs like other state CMs and Union ministers, among other high profile guests, the officials of Gannavaram Airport have geared up to meet the requirements of increased air traffic.

A chartered flight has also been arranged especially to carry MLAs to the oath-taking ceremony. The flight will arrive at 2.55 pm at Gannavaram Airport from Hyderabad and leave at 10 pm for Hyderabad. It is also learnt that Chandrababu Naidu's family members may also rent a chartered flight to arrive here.

While the CM-designate has sent invitations to 11 CMs, it is said that Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik has reportedly expressed his willingness to grace the occasion.

Meanwhile, neither the district administrations of Krishna and Guntur nor the Gannavaram Airport officials have received any official information regarding the arrival of the other CMs and Union ministers yet. It might take two more days to get clarity on the list of high profile guests.

Gannavaram Airport director BG Patil said that night landing is available at the airport and it can easily accommodate eight airplanes at a time aside from two helicopters. If more flights arrive on the day, some may be redirected to Rajahmundry airport where however night landing facility is not available.

But then, Patil expressed confidence that the Gannavaram Airport will be able to cater to the increased demand on the day. He added that inquiries about flight services have increased from various cities like Hyderabad and Chennai ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.

Right now, there are about five flight services operating from Gannavaram Airport to places like Bangalore and Hyderabad on the occasion of Chandrababu's swearing-in ceremony and the number of services may get increased.

In the meantime, the hotels in both Vijayawada and Guntur have been spruced up and already rooms are being booked for the oath-taking ceremony.

While Guntur collector S Suresh Kumar ordered corporate hotels and private guest house owners to reserve about half of rooms from June 6 evening to June 8 in the name of district collector, the Krishna district officials have been scouting around star hotels to provide accommodation for guests.

Vijayawada Hotel Owners' Association president K Pattabhiram said that about 200 star and deluxe rooms have been booked voluntarily by the Association in about 25 star and corporate hotels in the city for accommodating VIP guests.

Joint collector D Harichandana has inspected hotels in Vijayawada on Tuesday. A tahsildar level officer will be deputed at each hotel selected for accommodating guests and, the latter will be received with proper protocol and given grand reception. Even government guest houses are being decked up for the purpose.