On 12 February 2008, the Rajiv Gandhi
International Airport at Shamshabad in Hyderabad received its first commercial
test flights ahead of the start of commercial operations from 16 March 2008.
The flights, one each of private
full-schedule carriers Kingfisher Airlines (A320) and Jet Airways (B747) landed
down on South Asia's longest runway - 4,260 m - of the Shamshabad airport. The
new international airport is about 25-30 km from Hyderabad, and will be formally
inaugurated by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson, Ms.Sonia Gandhi on
14 March 2008.
The first commercial airline to take
off on midnight of 15 March 2008 is reported to be the German carrier Lufthansa
and on 16 March 2008, over 22 airlines will be flying to and from the airport
covering over 35 destinations.
The new Hyderabad airport has been
built by Hyderabad International Airport (HIAL), a public-private joint venture
between GMR Group (63 per cent), Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11 per cent)
and the state government and Airports Authority of India (AAI), which hold 13
per cent each.
Also See:
GHIAL awards fixed
line services contract to Tata Teleservices (28-Dec-07)