Why the Visakhapatnam airport shut, and what still flies from INS Dega

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Passengers say goodbye to family outside the departure gate at Visakhapatnam airport on Sunday, the last day of commercial flights. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

The Visakhapatnam airport marked its final day of commercial operations on Sunday (August 16, 2026). The last scheduled flight, IndiGo’s 10.45 p.m. service to New Delhi, flight 6E 2018, took with it the civil run of an airfield that has served the city since the Second World War.

At 12.01 a.m. on Monday (August 17, 2026), the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram comes into commission under two gazette notifications the Ministry of Civil Aviation issued last month , Airport Director N. Purushottam said. One brings the new airport into service; the other ends scheduled commercial operations at the civil enclave at INS Dega for 30 years, allowing exceptions for the armed forces, national emergencies and aircraft carrying dignitaries. The IATA code VTZ passes to Bhogapuram at the same minute. Non-scheduled civil flights and all naval flying continue at INS Dega, and since July 9 the Navy has been the sole controlling authority for the restructured Visakhapatnam airspace.

The Airports Authority of India thanked the Indian Navy for hosting civil operations at INS Dega, a partnership that continues for non-scheduled flights, and the CISF, BCAS, DGCA, Customs, Immigration, airlines and ground handlers.

The 30-year condition dates to January 2016 , when the Centre gave site clearance for Bhogapuram. The ceiling on civil movements at a naval field, where airlines flew within slots the Navy allotted, was the core reason the State pursued a greenfield airport.

The airfield at Buchirajapalem, in the valley behind the port, was set up in 1941 by the Royal Air Force. On April 1, 1942, the Indian Air Force’s No. 104 General Reconnaissance Squadron was raised there when Flight Lieutenant David Small and Pilot Officer Maurice Barker flew in two Westland Wapiti biplanes from Dum Dum.

Five days later, aircraft from the Japanese carrier Ryujo bombed Vizagapatam and Cocanada, now Kakinada. The airfield and its two Wapitis were not hit. Eight port employees died when a bomb burst near a pipe in which they had taken shelter; a plaque at the Visakha Museum carries their names.

Passengers walk out to board the last flights from the Visakhapatnam airport on Sunday evening. From 12.01 a.m. on Monday, every airline flight leaves from Bhogapuram. Video: @krdeepu18 pic.twitter.com/HQNxYlHAly

John Castellas, whose family roots are in the city and who now lives in Melbourne, has written the airfield’s early history and told The Hindu what the first patrol was like, quoting from Wing Commander W. Russell’s Forgotten Skies. “Squadron Leader David Small, having just formed his flight at Dum Dum, arrived on 1st April with two Wapitis at the field in the valley behind the small port of Vizagapatam, halfway up the east coast of India. He had no phone to the Naval Officer in charge at the port, no hangars, and as yet no airman.