Sri Vijaya Puram, Dec 07: Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, MP, A&N Islands met Mr. Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, in New Delhi on 04.12.2025. During the meeting, the MP drew attention to the 03 pending issues submitted earlier and urged the Minister for speedy resolution in the public interest. The key issues reiterated were (i) Introduction of a direct flight between Sri Vijayapuram (Port Blair) and Madurai to enhance regional connectivity and support tourism and medical travel (2) Regulation of excessively high airfares between Sri Vijayapuram (Port Blair) and major mainland cities such as Kolkata, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, and Delhi, particularly during peak seasons (3) Provision of air stretcher/air ambulance facilities for emergency medical evacuation of critical patients from Sri Vijayapuram (Port Blair) to major mainland hospitals.
The MP urged the Minister to take personal interest in resolving these issues at the earliest, considering the geographical isolation of the islands and the hardships faced by the people. The Hon’ble Minister responded that the issues raised by him would be look into.
During the meeting, MP also formally invited the Civil Aviation Minister to visit the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to participate in the upcoming event titled “Andaman Dialogues – Reimagining the Island Economy under the Viksit Bharat Vision”, proposed to be held in February 2025.
Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray expressed gratitude to the Minister for his positive interaction and hoped that his visit to the islands would give further momentum to the development agenda under Viksit Bharat.
