By Mohammed Shafeeq, IANS
Hyderabad : A Kingfisher flight A320 with 86 journalists, company officials and crew members became the first plane to land at India’s first world-class international airport near here Tuesday.
The passengers aboard the aircraft and the officials and workers on the ground clapped and cheered loudly as the aircraft flying from Mumbai touched down at 3.10 p.m. at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, about 25 km from here.
This correspondent was among the passengers of the momentous flight, which had a smooth landing on the 4,260 metre-long runway, the longest in South Asia.
The aircraft hovered over the area for about 20 minutes as Captain D.D. Gandhi conducted necessary procedures. He lowered the aircraft on the first runway before lifting it again as part of calibration procedure. Minutes later, it landed on the second runway, evoking loud cheers from hundreds witnessing the historic moment.
“The runway is simply excellent. It is truly world class,” Gandhi told IANS. The pilot, who has 25,000 hours of flying experience, later took off and again landed, this time in cloudy weather and wet conditions.
“It was a great feeling to be on the first flight,” said V. Raja of Kingfisher Airlines.
Two hours later, a second aircraft, a Boeing 747 of Jet Airways, landed at the new airport. This special flight too came from Mumbai.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on the occasion: “This is India’s first truly world class airport. It is an important milestone in the history of India’s civil aviation and will begin a new chapter.”
Termed as India’s first airport that matches global standards, it will be formally inaugurated by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi March 14. Commercial operations will commence two days later, shifting the focus from the existing airport at Begumpet in the heart of the city.
The Rs.24.7 billion ($60 million) airport, built on 5,000 acres of land, features the best of facilities in Oslo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore airports, officials said. It has been built in public-private partnership.
The airport will be capable of handling 12 million passengers and more than 100,000 tonnes of cargo per annum. The ultimate capacity of the new airport is over 40 million passengers and one million tonnes of cargo annually.
The project was completed ahead of schedule and well within the tenure of the same government, minister Patel said, recalling that Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone March 16, 2005.
Patel assured Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy that another international airport would come up in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam. He also announced that the Rajhamundry and Vijayawada airports would be upgraded.