The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Keep Begumpet airport open for domestic flights’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Keep Begumpet airport open for domestic flights’

State urged to apprise Centre on poor road connectivity

More time spent on reaching airport than air travel
Payment of compensation to GMR suggested

HYDERABAD: Expressing concern over the inconvenience caused to passengers boarding the flights at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad to poor road connectivity and traffic snarls, members cutting party lines in the Legislative Council demanded that Begumpet airport be kept open for a year for domestic operations.

Congress and Telugu Desam Party members asked the government to write to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to allow domestic operations at the Begumpet airport citing the poor road connectivity, frequent traffic jams and fleecing by the taxis operators.

The Minister for Ports and Airports, M. Venkataramana Rao, while conceding that passengers were put to hardships, said the issue had to be settled by the Centre. The Minister said he would nevertheless take the issue to the notice of Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and see that the Centre reacted positively to the plea.

Agreement

However, he said as per the agreement between the GMR and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, from the date of opening of the new airport, the existing airport would not be available for use for civil aviation operations.

Raising the issue, P. Sudhakar Reddy (Congress) said though the GMR Hyderabad International Airport was a landmark in the aviation history, the State and Central governments should take note of the sufferings of the air passengers.

He said passengers were forced to spend more time reaching the airport than their actual travel time. He also opposed the user charges being collected by the GMR authorities.

Leader of Opposition Dadi Veerabhadra Rao (TDP) said till proper road connectivity was provided, it was futile to run the domestic operations from the new airport. He suggested the government to compensate the GMR for the losses incurred for one year.

B. Kamalakar Rao (Congress) urged the government to convince GMR as well as the Centre to consider the plea of domestic passengers.

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Andhra Pradesh