The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Curtains to come down on Begumpet airport

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 21, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Curtains to come down on Begumpet airport

M. Srinivas

Last commercial flight scheduled to take off at 11.40 p.m. on Saturday

Begumpet airport contributed a lot for development of the State
Played a pivotal role in boosting tourism and other major events in the city

— Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

end of a chapter: As operations at the new international airport in Shamshabad begin on Sunday, Begumpet airport is set to pass into the annals of history.

HYDERABAD: The booming sounds will make way to an eerie silence at Begumpet airport when the scheduled Singapore Airlines flight takes off at 11.40 p.m. on Saturday, thus bidding adieu to the airport’s commercial operations.

The hustle and bustle near flight arrival and departure pointswill come to a grinding halt from Sunday. The shifting will also render hundreds of contract employees jobless, while bringing cheers to a few others.

A week after the airport was formally inaugurated and the scheduled commercial operations launch was postponed later, the airport developers received a nod from the Civil Aviation Ministry to start operations from 12.25 a.m. on Sunday at the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, heralding a new chapter in the aviation sector in Hyderabad. “Those are unforgettable memories which will continue to tug at the deepest recesses of the heart for a long time to come,” says a Traffic Home Guard M. Sampath Kumar.

The Begumpet airport has contributed a lot for the immense development of the State, particularly in IT and ITES services. It played a pivotal role in boosting tourism and other major events held in the city, apart from transporting essential commodities during natural calamities.

Bleak future

From loaders, cargo agents and Central Industrial Security Force personnel to captains, taxi and auto drivers and from vendors to sweepers, everybody played their role perfectly to ensure better services to passengers since decades. “We are yet to come to terms with the fact that the airport will not be functional here anymore. Our future is now bleak with termination of contracts,” laments G. Sai Kumar, a loader of private airlines.

For decades, the canteens on either side of the airport have been buzz spots with air-hostesses, airline managers and other employees gathering here after every flight movement to exchange the day’s experiences. “From Saturday night, we will miss all such activity,” explains canteen owner K. V. Raghava Reddy. It’s a relief for motorists plying on the Secunderabad-Punjagutta stretch as vehicular traffic will reduce drastically. The residents of nearby colonies will also get some respite from the noise pollution.

However, Begumpet Airport Director R. K. Singla says the old airport would be utilised for defence and emergency services along with VIPs and private aircraft movement.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh