--- iata: VGA name: Vijayawada Airport city: Vijayawada country: India lastUpdated: '2026-09-09' officialWebsite: 'https://www.aai.aero/en/airports/vijayawada' sources: - 'https://www.aai.aero/en/airports/vijayawada' - 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayawada_Airport' - 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_India' - >- https://web.archive.org/web/20260428091121/https://www.aai.aero/sites/default/files/traffic-news/Mar2k26Annex2.pdf - >- https://web.archive.org/web/20260428091121/https://www.aai.aero/sites/default/files/traffic-news/Mar2k26Annex3.pdf - >- https://web.archive.org/web/20260428091121/https://www.aai.aero/sites/default/files/traffic-news/Mar2k26Annex4.pdf - >- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/vijayawada-airport-records-1370-revenue-growth-in-12-years-says-director/article71098566.ece - >- https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/vijayawada-airport-new-terminal-likely-to-be-ready-by-october-says-official/article71429109.ece - >- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vijayawada/vijayawada-airport-terminal-works-to-be-completed-by-oct-15/articleshow/133935364.cms - >- https://www.etvbharat.com/en/state/vijayawada-airport-sees-500-percent-passenger-growth-but-international-flights-remain-limited-enn26090504318 - 'https://www.prioritypass.com/lounges/india' - >- https://www.cntraveller.in/story/digi-yatra-guide-airports-registration-benefits-international-travel/ - 'https://www.aai.aero/en/node/72462' quickFacts: - >- Vijayawada Airport (IATA VGA / ICAO VOBZ), still widely called Gannavaram Airport, is the AAI civil passenger gateway for Vijayawada and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. On AAI FY 2025–26 annex traffic it handled about 1.41 million passengers. The campus sits at Gannavaram in Krishna district — AAI’s passenger page places it about 25 km from Vijayawada on the NH-16 Chennai–Kolkata corridor; Wikipedia’s lead often says about 20 km. Owner / operator is the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Official passenger page: https://www.aai.aero/en/airports/vijayawada. Screenshot VGA (VOBZ) ≠ HYD Hyderabad ≠ VTZ Visakhapatnam / Bhogapuram-area metal ≠ TIR / TIRUPATI ≠ IXZ / Tiruchirappalli traps — the wrong Andhra / Telangana IATA is a multi-hour road or extra flight day, not an airside hop. This is a pure AAI public civil field (not a passenger enclave on an active naval or air-force base). - >- Live passenger campus today is the January 2017 interim terminal (~12,999 m²; designed for about 2 MPPA / ~500 peak-hour; 18 check-in / two belts / six boarding gates on Wikipedia facility summaries), with the older shell refurbished for customs / immigration when international banks operate. A new ~51,315 m² integrated terminal (foundation Dec 2018; public design ~3.5 MPPA / ~1,200 peak-hour; six aerobridges on director briefings) is still under construction — Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu directed an Oct 15 2026 completion push after a mid-2026 contractor change (Times of India 8 Sep 2026); Airport Director M. Lakshmi Kantha Reddy similarly said October readiness at an AP Chambers briefing (The Hindu 4 Sep 2026). Treat that hall as planning / CGI until FIDS and AAI say passengers have moved — it is not today’s check-in map. - >- Traffic (AAI Mar2k26 Annex II–IV PDFs for FY 2025–26 / 1 Apr 2025–31 Mar 2026): 1,411,958 passengers (+1.7%), 17,112 aircraft movements (−7.8%), and 1,264.5 t cargo (−10.5%). Prefer annex PDFs when auditing. Director growth wraps sometimes print ~1,411,325 passengers / 17,536 movements — close but not identical; use annex digits for audits. Roughly ~40,950 of the FY26 passenger total sits in the international annex column — thin, thrice-weekly metal, not a dense overseas bank. - >- Airfield (Wikipedia technical summaries for VOBZ): single runway 08/26 — 3,360 m × 45 m asphalt after the 2019 extension (from ~2,286 m); Category I ILS; apron expanded in phases to about 24 parking bays on public summaries; aerodrome elevation about 25 m / 82 ft. Do not invent a second passenger runway. DigiYatra is live for domestic passengers here — Condé Nast Traveller’s DigiYatra airport list places VGA under Andhra Pradesh alongside VTZ; Deccan Chronicle covered the March 2023 launch. Still keep CISF document queues as Plan B if the app / e-gate fails. - >- Lounges (live Priority Pass India directory, checked Sep 2026): Vijayawada / Gannavaram / VGA is not listed as an airport heading with a soft-lounge pin. Live PP soft directory = none — do not invent Plaza Premium / Primus / Travel Club / Airr / Encalm soft pins from aggregator mirrors. AAI’s facilities page lists Amaravathi Aromas as a multi-cuisine restaurant near SHA; some lounge aggregators rebrand a domestic airside “Amaravathi” soft room (often ~06:00–21:00). Treat that as paid / bank-app / walk-up product when the door is open — not Priority Pass — and confirm after DreamFolks’ Sep 2025 domestic exit. - >- Ground: prepaid taxi / signed app cabs remain Plan A for the Gannavaram run into Benz Circle / Governorpet / railway station (often ~35–60 minutes in normal traffic; confirm the board / app quote). There is no passenger rail or metro platform inside the terminal. Late nights default to prepaid / app cabs. HYD remains the usual diversion / alternate hub when weather or schedule shocks constrain the single strip — that is a separate airport, not an airside hop. bentoTips: - label: Timing title: DigiYatra helps — still budget one strip and thin intl banks detail: >- VGA’s January 2017 interim hall is compact and DigiYatra is on mid-2026 Andhra live lists, but the field remains a single-runway AAI station with IndiGo-heavy domestic banks and only thrice-weekly Singapore / Sharjah international metal on Sep 2026 press wraps. Domestic ~2 hours early is still the sane default; add buffer on monsoon mornings and when the new ~51k m² hall worksite crowds the kerb. There is no live Priority Pass soft lounge to absorb a long wait. summary: >- DigiYatra and a short hall help; one runway and thin intl banks still need real buffers. category: timing - label: Terminal title: Live in the 2017 interim — new 51k m² hall is not today’s map detail: >- Screenshot VGA ≠ HYD ≠ VTZ / Bhogapuram ≠ Tirupati before the car leaves Vijayawada. All scheduled passengers clear the Jan 2017 interim terminal (~12,999 m²) plus the refurbished older shell for CIQ when international banks operate. Director / minister October 2026 completion targets for the ~51,315 m² integrated terminal are construction context — not a second live passenger campus until AAI moves the banks. Live Priority Pass soft directory = none. summary: Interim 2017 hall is live; new terminal is still under construction. category: terminal - label: Food title: Landside sealed water is Plan A — no PP soft-lounge drinks detail: >- Live Priority Pass product is empty for VGA on the national India index. Without a soft-lounge entitlement, buy sealed water and snacks landside before CISF; airside café markup is the usual Indian-airport tax. AAI’s Amaravathi Aromas restaurant listing near SHA is F&B, not a Priority Pass pin — ignore Plaza Premium / Primus inventions. summary: No live PP soft room; landside bottles still beat airside pricing. category: food - label: Access title: 'Prepaid taxi Plan A — Gannavaram is ~20–25 km, no terminal metro' detail: >- Use official prepaid taxi counters in arrivals or signed Ola / Uber pickup for the Gannavaram / NH-16 run into Benz Circle / Governorpet / Vijayawada Junction (often ~35–60 minutes in normal traffic; confirm the board / app quote). Do not invent an in-terminal metro or rail platform from capital-region transit planning coverage. Amaravati / Undavalli / beach day trips need separate road plans and buffers. summary: Road hop into the city; metro is not at the kerb. category: status lounges: [] waterOptions: - kind: purchase name: Landside sealed water (check-in / departures hall) zone: landside price: >- Typical Indian-airport sealed-bottle markup — confirm shelf tag (often roughly ₹40–80) summary: >- Best default hydration play — buy sealed water landside before CISF so you are not hostage to airside café pricing after a Gannavaram road transfer. location: >- Convenience and café kiosks in the interim terminal departures / check-in hall before security terminal: Interim Terminal landside isBestValue: true - kind: purchase name: Airside retail water zone: airside price: Higher than landside — confirm shelf tag summary: >- Markup backup once you are through security; fine for a top-up, poor as Plan A. Amaravathi Aromas near SHA is restaurant F&B, not free PP water. location: Post-security café and retail units toward domestic gates / SHA terminal: Interim Terminal airside airportistScore: 6.1 slug: vga region: Asia-Pacific --- > Markdown for [/airports/vga](/airports/vga). Append `.md` to any page URL (or send `Accept: text/markdown`) for an agent-readable copy. - [HTML page](/airports/vga) - [Lounge directory](/airports/vga/lounges.md) - [Sitemap](/sitemap.md) # Vijayawada Airport (VGA) Vijayawada, India · Asia-Pacific AAI Capital Region gateway at Gannavaram — DigiYatra-live interim 2017 hall, IndiGo-shaped banks, thin Singapore/Sharjah metal, and no live Priority Pass soft lounge while the ~51k m² terminal finishes ## Airportist Score **6.1 / 10** Weighted sum of the six published categories (no holistic fudge). - Ease of use (25%): 7.4 — Wayfinding, security wait, and layout. - Comfort & amenities (20%): 6.4 — Seating, Wi-Fi, cleanliness, and quiet. - Food & retail (15%): 5.6 — Food and retail quality and variety. - Ground access (15%): 6.8 — Transit, taxi, and parking to the city. - Reliability (15%): 5.8 — Delays, cancellations, and weather resilience. - Lounges (10%): 2.4 — Worth-it density and access quality. ## At a glance - Passengers: 1.41M - Terminals: 1 - Typical security: 22 min - On-time: 80% - Disruption: minor ## Best for - Andhra Pradesh Capital Region travelers who want the closest scheduled commercial field to Vijayawada / Amaravati - Domestic connectors on IndiGo / Air India / Air India Express / Fly91 banks via HYD / BLR / MAA / DEL / BOM - Travelers who can use DigiYatra and accept a compact interim hall instead of waiting for the unfinished ~51k m² terminal ## Watch out for - No live Priority Pass soft lounge — ignore aggregator Primus / Plaza inventions; Amaravathi Aromas is AAI restaurant / paid soft-sit, not PP - New ~51,315 m² integrated terminal still under construction (Oct 2026 target) — not today’s check-in map - International is thin (~41k FY26 annex pax) — Singapore / Sharjah thrice-weekly, not a dense overseas bank - Single runway 08/26 — monsoon / weather holds divert mental model to HYD, not an airside hop ## More intel - [Lounge directory](/airports/vga/lounges.md) (free) - [Getting there](/airports/vga/getting-there.md) (free) - [Amenities](/airports/vga/amenities.md) - [Traveler tips](/airports/vga/tips.md) - [Water](/airports/vga/water.md) - [Full guide](/airports/vga/guide.md) - [Disruptions](/airports/vga/disruptions.md) - [Reviews](/airports/vga/reviews.md)