GHIAL stabilises operations at Hyderabad's new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) has said that operations at its greenfield Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) have stabilised.

In a statement GHIAL  have said that commercial operations commenced from 00.01 hours on 23 March 2008 and were preceded by 53 ORAT (Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer) trials, which tested each and every system and sub-system in an integrated manner in areas like passenger facilities, baggage handling system, check-in system, apron management system (air side), traffic management system (land side), security system, IT system etc.

In the first five days, the airport has handled around 15,000 international and 78,000 domestic passengers for a total of 93,000 passengers, at an average of 18,500 passengers per day.

The airport also handled a total number of 1230  Air Traffic Movements (ATMs), that is 615 arrivals and 615 departures in the first five days. On 27 March, 2008, there were 273 ATMs handled.

G-HIAL said that many of the airport systems, like the check-in system, baggage handling system, fuel system  etc., have stabilized.
 
Baggage handling
On the domestic side, the average time taken for the first baggage is around 11-14 minutes and for the last baggage it is around 18-36 minutes. All efforts are being make to further reduce the baggage handling time for international and domestic baggage.

Runway and ATC systems
The international pilot community, according to GHIAL has also appreciated the runway and ATC systems installed at the RGIA. IT quotes a pilot from Emirates Airlines, Flight No.524 on 25 March, 2008 as making the comment: ''All systems are working in good order. The runway is nice and smooth and Apron well lit and smooth. The VDGS ( Visual Docking System) is working properly''.

Passenger Amenities
The introduction of shuttle buses has received an overwhelming response, it said, and negotiations are on with the operator to increase the number of locations and buses, from the current 30 buses and four locations.

Passengers have also appreciated the introduction of around 700 radio taxis at a flat rate of Rs15 per km. The airport is also offering executive car services through three operators – Budget, Avis & Hertz with their counters in the arrivals area.

Arrangements have also been made at the Public Transportation Centre (PTC) for pre-paid auto rickshaws, pre-paid taxis, APSRTC buses, third party radio taxis and other taxi operators.

The free Airport shuttle takes passengers from departure and arrivals ramp to the Public Transportation Centre at frequent intervals.

Efforts have also been made to provide F&B at affordable prices for the passengers.