New Hyderabad airport to start flights by March 08

Hyderabad, Sep 10 (UNI) With over 80 per cent of work complete, the new Hyderabad airport is gearing up for commercial operations in March next year.

''We're right on target, though no date has been fixed for a formal opening,'' said Mr T. Srinagesh, chief operating officer of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL).

The greenfield project spread across 5,400 acres will open up in phases triggered by passenger traffic growth. Estimated investment for the final project is three billion dollars (about Rs 12,000 crore) by 2025.

''Indian aviation is growing at a very fast pace and we're looking forward to the first flight from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad, about 40 km from here,'' said Mr Srinagesh.

The current airport at Begumpet handles about six million passengers annually. It will shut down for commercial operations as RGIA starts operating.

The initial phase of new airport will be capable of handling 12 million passengers and 100,000 tonnes of cargo per year.

It will have an ultimate capacity of 50 million passengers per annum and is designed to handle new large aircraft, including the Airbus A380. The modular design of airport will allow incremental expansion of each area, without major rebuilding or operational disruption.

Its single terminal building will be equipped with 12 contact boarding gates, 30 remote stands for aircraft parking, 60 common user terminal equipment (CUTE) check-in desks and 24 self check-in kiosks, and 30 immigration counters.

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