Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is an international airport that serves Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana. It is located in Shamshabad, about 24 km south of Hyderabad and it was opened on 23 March 2008 to replace Begumpet Airport, which was till then the sole civilian airport serving Hyderabad. It is owned and operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), a public–private consortium. It was the first airport in India to launch domestic e-boarding facility in December 2015, followed with international e-boarding facility in October 2020,[3][4][5] and ranked in AirHelp's list of top 10 airports in the world.[6] The fourth-busiest airport in India by passenger traffic, it handled over 29 million passengers and over 167660 t of cargo between April 2024 and March 2025.[7][8]
The airport is India's first greenfield airport built under a public-private partnership model.[9] It was named after Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India. Built over an area of 5500 acre, it is the largest airport of India by area.[10] The airport has an integrated passenger terminal, a cargo terminal and two runways. There are also aviation training facilities, a fuel farm, a solar power plant and two maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) facilities.
History
Planning (1991–2004)
The existing commercial airport, Begumpet Airport, was unable to handle rising passenger traffic. The State Government initially considered converting Hakimpet Air Force Station to civilian use; however, the Air Force refused.[11] When the State proposed the construction of a new airport for the Air Force, the Ministry of Defence suggested the State consider sites south of Begumpet Airport.[12] By October 1998, the State had narrowed down to three possible locations for the new airport: Bongloor, Nadergul and Shamshabad.[13] Due to its convenient location near two highways (NH 44 and NH 765) and a railway line,[12] Shamshabad was selected in December 1998.
Ownership
RGIA is owned and operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a public–private venture. It is composed of the private firm, GMR Group (74%) and the public entities, Airports Authority of India (13%) and the Government of Telangana (13%). Previously, GMR Group had a consortium with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, in which it held a share of 11% and GMR Group shared 63% in owning the airport.[37] Per the concession agreement between GHIAL and the Central Government, GHIAL has the right to operate the airport for 30 years, with the option to continue doing so for another 30 years.[38] In May 2022, the Central Government extended the concession agreement term of GHIAL from 23 March 2038, up to 22 March 2068.[9] In October 2023, GMR Group informed in a release announcing the signing of Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) that it had decided to acquire the 11% stake of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, thus raising its overall stake to 74%.[39]
Facilities
Structure
The airport is spread over 5500 acre. Out of which 2000 acre have been developed towards airport needs which mainly constitutes 1700 acre of land is airside and 300 acre of land is landside facilities. The remaining 3495 acre is expansion of the airport. No further land will be acquired. The airport is fully planned within 5500 acre.[42]
Runways
The airport has two runways:[43]
Runway 09R/27L, the original and primary runway, is long enough to be able to receive the Airbus A380 which is the world's largest passenger aircraft.[44] Originally a taxiway, runway 09L/27R was inaugurated in February 2012. Its length is shorter than the main runway and able to handle aircraft such as the
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Statistics
GMR Aerospace Park
The GMR Aerospace Park contains several facilities primarily related to the aviation sector.[163] It has a 250 acre special economic zone, which includes an 20 acre Free Trade and Warehousing Zone, as well as a domestic tariff area.[164]
Aviation training
The GMR Aviation Academy is located in the park. It was established in 2009 in co-operation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Airports Council International (ACI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The academy offers programmes related to airport operations, which are accredited by the listed organisations.[165][166]
Other facilities
Air India MRO
The other MRO is operated by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), a subsidiary of Air India. Spread over 5 acre, the facility cost inr 790000000 to construct and was opened in May 2015.[173][174]
Cargo terminal
The cargo terminal is located west of the passenger terminal. It covers 14330 m2 and can handle 150000 t of cargo annually.[175] The terminal is operated by Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between GHIAL (51%) and Menzies Aviation (49%).[176]
Ground transport
Road
RGIA is connected to the city of Hyderabad by NH 44, NH 765 and the Outer Ring Road. In October 2009, the PV Narasimha Rao Expressway was completed between Mehdipatnam and Aramghar, where it joins NH 44. This long flyover which is 13 km has reduced travel time between the airport and the city to 30–40 minutes and also provides three entry and exit points.[189]
The "Pushpak – Airport Liner" service of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation provides bus transportation to different parts of the city.[190] It was launched in December 2012 to replace GMR's Aero Express service.[191]
Metro
Future plans
In 2009, GHIAL decided to postpone the second phase due to lower growth in passenger traffic than anticipated.[204][205] The phase was revived in late 2015, as the airport is expected to reach its capacity in 2016.[206] The first leg of this phase will bring the capacity to 18 million passengers annually, and the second leg will raise it to 20 million.[207] The passenger terminal will be enlarged with additional security lanes, check-in counters and other facilities, and solar panels will be built on the roof.[208] In October 2017, GHIAL CEO SGK Kishore confirmed that the airport expansion would start by January 2018, and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.The passenger terminal is being expanded to handle 34 million passengers per year.[209] But due to the ongoing
See also
- List of airports in India
- List of the busiest airports in India
- List of airports in Telangana
- Warangal Airport
External links
References
- Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data aai.aero, retrieved 26 April 2025^
- Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data aai.aero, retrieved 26 April 2025^
- Hyderabad airport implements e-boarding 23 July 2015