The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy inaugurated Kurnool Airport located at Orvakal and named it after the freedom fighter Uyyalavada Narasimha Reddy as a tribute.
Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that the flight operations from the airport will commence from 28 March servicing Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, and Chennai routes. He stated that the airport is equipped with all the latest technology and fine infrastructure, which can facilitate the parking of four aircrafts at the same time. Stating that this will be the sixth civilian airport in the state after Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Rajamundry, and Kadapa, the Chief Minister said that the airport was set up in the judicial capital of Andhra Pradesh connecting to other states. He said the airport will make the judicial capital stand on par with other states. Taking this occasion, Jaganmohan Reddy slammed the previous government for inaugurating an incomplete airport in a rush just before the 2019 elections without even securing ATC and DGCA permissions or initiating flight services. He said that the ex-Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu tried to use this as a political stunt to get votes from the people of Kurnool. Jaganmohan Reddy said that the State government had developed the airport on a war footing within a year and a half by spending Rs 110 crore on completing all the pending works, building lounges, getting ATC and DGCA permissions, even establishing power substations and two high-end fire engines were made available at the airport.