Sonia inaugurates Shamshabad airport

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Economy Bureau: Hyderabad, Mar 14 , Mar 15 2008, 00:45 IST

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Amidst large-scale protests from the Telugu Desam Party and BJP workers along with prohibitory orders by the Cyberabad police, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday formally inaugurated the country’s first greenfield airport at Shamshabad, near Hyderabad. Christened as Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, the facility is about 30 kms away from the main city and will commence commercial operations from March 16, 2008.

Speaking at a special function at the airport, Sonia Gandhi said that entry of private airliners has improved passenger traffic and air connectivity will fuel economic development in the backward regions. ‘’The airports are no more used only for passenger transportation but also for the cargo movement as well,’’ she added. With the increase in the number of airports, the export levels of perishable goods are also expected to go up. Besides, airports will fuel fresh investments and improve employment generation too, she said after lighting the lamp while inaugurating the Shamshabad airport.

Speaking on the occasion, Prafull Patel, civil aviation minister, said that the definition of airport has to be reframed as it is now an economic tool for the common mass. In 2004, there were over 50 airports, it is about 85 today and is expected to grow more in the coming years.

The new airport is developed under a unique pubic-private joint venture model between GMR group (63%), Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11%), the Andhra Pradesh government (13%) and Airports Authority of India (13%). It has 105,300 sq m terminal to handle 12 million passengers

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