If your ticket says VTZ, the airport code looks familiar. The place you need to go is not.
Scheduled passenger flights serving Visakhapatnam, India, moved on August 17 from the city’s longtime airport to the new Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram. The surprising part is that the VTZ code moved with them, even though the new terminal is roughly 48 to 50 kilometers from the old airport.
That makes this more than a routine terminal change. A traveler relying on an old map pin, saved ride address, hotel transfer, or memory of the former airport could end up in the wrong place with a long drive still ahead.
VTZ now means Bhogapuram, not the old city airport
Air India’s official travel alert says all of its flights to and from Visakhapatnam began operating from Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport in Bhogapuram on August 17. The airline describes the new airport as approximately 50 kilometers from the previous one and tells passengers to allow extra travel time.
The change applies across scheduled commercial service, not just to Air India. Local reporting says the final scheduled flight left the old Visakhapatnam airport late on August 16, with operations transferring just after midnight. A Ministry of Civil Aviation notification also transferred the VTZ airport code to the new airport.
For most travelers, that means bookings and boarding passes may still show “Visakhapatnam” and “VTZ.” Those labels now point to the Bhogapuram airport in Vizianagaram district.
The trip from central Visakhapatnam could take 70 to 100 minutes
The real traveler consequence is on the ground. The new airport is about 48 kilometers from Visakhapatnam’s city center, and IndiGo’s guidance reported by The Economic Times estimated a drive of roughly 70 to 100 minutes, depending on traffic.
That can affect more than airport arrival time. Travelers should reconsider hotel-to-airport pickups, rental-car returns, private drivers, tour transfers, and any same-day rail or bus connection planned around a flight. Anyone arriving from another city should also make sure the person meeting them has the new location.
The risk is highest for people who booked before the change, use a third-party itinerary app, or copied the old airport address into a calendar months ago. The code did not change, so familiar-looking trip details do not provide the usual warning that the airport itself has moved.
What happened to the old Visakhapatnam airport?
The former airport shared facilities with the Indian Navy’s INS Dega. According to The New Indian Express, scheduled commercial aviation there ended after more than four decades.
The old site is not disappearing entirely. It is expected to continue handling some nonscheduled activity, including charter and private flights, while authorities consider other aviation uses. That distinction matters: seeing aircraft activity at the old site does not mean scheduled passenger flights still depart there.
The new Bhogapuram facility was built to give the region a dedicated, larger commercial airport. For travelers, the upgrade may bring more capacity and future connectivity, but the opening-week practical issue is simple: the airport serving the same city and using the same code is now much farther from central Visakhapatnam.
What travelers should do before a VTZ flight
- Confirm the airport name. Look for Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport or Bhogapuram, not only the VTZ code.
- Reconfirm transportation. Ask your hotel, driver, or tour company to verify that pickup or drop-off is at the Bhogapuram terminal.
- Allow more road time. Build the estimated 70-to-100-minute city-center transfer into your departure plan, with extra margin for traffic and unfamiliar access roads.
- Check every segment separately. If your itinerary includes a train, bus, domestic connection, or same-day event, recalculate the timing using the new airport location.
Travelers should also check their airline’s app or website before leaving for the airport. Air India has published the move in its news alerts, and IndiGo has advised passengers to account for the longer ground journey.
This is one of those travel changes that can hide in plain sight. The destination name is the same. The code is the same. The airport, however, is nearly 50 kilometers away from where many travelers will remember it.
