Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

Lights off on Begumpet tarmac

— Photo: Satish. H

Final goodbye: A Thai aircraft, the last flight to take off from Begumpet airport.

HYDERABAD: For a while, there was a pin-drop silence inside the Air Traffic Control room, as the final countdown began for the last flight to take-off from the Begumpet airport. The incessant drizzle also added to the impending gloom.

The operators rolled back aerobridges after passengers boarded the Thai TG-330 flight. The plane turned around from the apron and proceeded towards Bowenpally side to take-off. Then the Captain stopped the flight on the runway and requested for clearance.

A few minutes later after checking the weather on the gleaming LCD screens along with Met officials, the Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) gave clearance to the Captain. Around 12.25 a.m. on Sunday, the flight finally took-off for Bangkok, bringing the curtains down on all air operations at the airport. Immediately, the runway lights were put off, thus symbolising the commencement of commercial air operations at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad.

“There was complete silence in the air traffic control room for sometime. ATCs were nostalgic after departure of the last Thai Airlines flight,” recalled a senior official of Begumpet airport.

Because of wind direction, the plane took-off from runway from the Bowenpally side. “It was a wonderful experience to work at this airport,” an employee handling engineering works said.

“It’s sad to see sudden silence at the airport after rendering services for the growth of Hyderabad for many decades. In a way, the incessant rain and lightning added to the signing off ceremony of the old airport,” historian P. Anuradha Reddy remarked.

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