The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : New airport `very much' on track

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 10, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

New airport `very much' on track

Special Correspondent

Nearly 70 per cent of work on the airport is complete and it is on course for commissioning as scheduled

CHARTING THE GROWTH PATH: Workers check out the runway of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Wednesday. — PHOTO: Satish H.

HYDERABAD: The first aircraft will take off from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad here before March 2008, according to its promoter, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL).

Nearly seventy per cent of work on the airport is complete and it is on course for commissioning as scheduled.

Hub in South India

Deriving full advantage of the city's geographical location and clear weather, the GHIAL proposes to rope in at least 20 international airlines to operate flights from the upcoming facility and make it a hub in South India.

Giving details of the project's progress, chief operating officer (COO) of GHAIL T. Srinagesh said here on Wednesday that while 12 international airlines are currently operating from Hyderabad, the new facility will enhance the scope manifold.

The airport will have 60 check-in counters and 16 self check-in kiosks. Checked-in luggage will pass through an automated screening process down up to pick up points. There will be 23 immigration counters in the departure block and 22 in the arrival block for international passengers.

Seating area

A 90-metre-long belt would facilitate the baggage claim of all passengers of an A-380 aircraft, while travellers of other aircraft can pick up their luggage from three other 70-metre belts. The seating area in the departure block will have a capacity to seat 2,300 people. An exclusive area is earmarked for `meeters and greeters'.

Site preparation and construction of boundary wall are complete. Only 33 per cent of work remains as of now on the 10-lakh square feet passenger terminal building, which will have seven floors, and the 70-metre tall air-traffic control tower.

The trial runs and certification will take three more months. The capacity of the new international airport is 12 million passengers per annum.

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