| THE NEW $450 MILLION Hyderabad International Airport will have a capacity of 7 million, more than double the 3 million of the existing airport. Chief operating officer T Srinagesh said: “The show is going very well, we have met our first airlines. We had a good meeting with UPS. It is very structured - you can get to business partners fast and efficiently. We are keen to find out airlines’ plans in India.”
The new airport opens in March 2008. “We will have many firsts in India- transit will be easy, there will be high connectivity and it will be an IT driven airport. There is large potential from western countries and the Middle East. We are looking to airports that operate from the US, Middle East, Europe and South East Asia,” said Srinagesh.
The intention is for domestic airlines to use Hyderabad as a hub, as well as being a cargo hub - an area Srinagesh believes has been previously neglected in India. Passenger traffic in India is growing at a rate of 25% and cargo traffic at 22%. Throughput at the existing Hyderabad grew by 28% last year, cargo by 23% and international aircraft movements by 25%. The airport will have the longest runway in India – 4,260m – so will be able to handle the A380.
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