New airport gears up for summer schedule

Hyderabad: Already a week into full-fledged operations, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad is gearing itself to handle the increased passenger traffic on account of summer schedule that began on Sunday.
The schedule entails an increase in the number of daily flights to 324 - 280 domestic and 44 international- with the launch of new routes by various airlines and additional flights on existing sectors.
The RGIA now has its task cut out to counter the flak over shortcomings in passenger conveniences, malfunction of aerobridges and parking woes. So much so, the members in both Houses of the Legislature recently demanded revival of the Begumpet airport for domestic flights till RGIA gets its act together.
Mr. A. Viswanath, vice-president (Corporate Planning and Risk Management), GHIAL, said the Shamshabad airport handled 1.20 lakh passengers so far without a single flight cancellation. In contrast, over 70 flights were cancelled after the first two days of the inauguration of Heathrow Airport’s new terminal on March 27 due to glitches in baggage-handling.
RGIA handled 825 flight arrivals and an equal number of departures.
31/03/08 Agencies/Siasat Daily

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Apr 2008