GMR opposes plan for old Hyderabad airport

New Delhi: India’s airports regulator, which also runs the largest network of airports in the country, finds itself locking horns with GMR Infrastructure Ltd, which operates Hyderabad’s new international airport, by planning to convert a portion of the older airport into a workshop for commercial aircraft, which GMR says is a breach of contract.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI)-run airport at Begumpet in Hyderabad was closed nearly three months ago when the new international airport at Shamshabad on the city’s outshirts began operation, as part of a 2004 agreement that stipulated such a closure.
To cushion the financial loss from shutting down the Begumpet airport, which was among the top five in the country by passenger traffic, AAI recently floated tenders seeking to convert a portion of the nearly 790-acre airport site into a maintenance, repair and overhaul or MRO centre for various types of commercial aircraft.
The GMR Hyderabd International Airport Ltd, or Ghial, the GMR Group-run company that operates the new airport, has opposed the AAI’s MRO project.
Viswanath Attaluri, chief commercial officer, Ghial, said the MRO venture would be commercial in nature and therefore not permitted under the terms of the 2004 agreement.
06/07/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008