About
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA, code HYD) is Hyderabad's airport, opened in March 2008 as India's first major greenfield airport project under PPP. Operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (a GMR Group subsidiary) under a 30-year concession, the airport replaced the colonial-era Begumpet Airport that had reached the limits of expansion within Hyderabad's city centre.
Located 22 km south of Hyderabad at Shamshabad, the new airport was developed on 5,400 acres at a cost of ₹5,500 crore. L&T was the lead civil contractor, with Hyundai-Mitsui-Mitsubishi consortium handling the airfield works. The airport opened in 2008 with a single 4.26 km runway (one of the longest in India, allowing A380 + Boeing 747-8 operations) — the second runway was added in 2014 to enable parallel dual-runway operations.
Daily traffic averages 24 million passengers/year (2024) — making RGIA India's fourth-busiest airport. The terminal architecture — a single 90,000 sqm passenger terminal with 16 air-bridges and 50 immigration counters — was designed for a 12 MPPA initial capacity, scaled to 25 MPPA after the 2014 expansion. A second terminal (T2, ~40,000 sqm) opened in 2023.
The airport has won multiple awards: 5-star Skytrax certification, ASQ best airport in 5-15 MPPA category for 12 consecutive years, and India's first carbon-neutral airport (since 2020).
Cross-references
7Indian Standards, IRC codes, and InfraLens knowledge articles that bear on this project's design and execution. Each link opens the relevant reference page.
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Notable features
- India's first major greenfield airport project under PPP (2008)
- Replaced colonial-era Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad's city centre
- First Indian airport with parallel dual-runway operations (2014)
- 4.26 km runway — among India's longest, supports A380
- First Indian airport to achieve carbon-neutral certification (2020)
- GMR's flagship airport asset