GMR Hyderabad International Airport Celebrates ‘Decade of Excellence’

• Shri K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Telangana State lays the foundation stone for the expansion of Hyderabad International Airport
• Hon’ble CM launches India’s first Smart, Greenfield Airport City
• Hon’ble CM releases commemorative stamp and envelope on decade of excellence
• GMRVF marks the 12 eventful years of service in Telangana State
• The event sees signing of 3 MoUs on training programs conducted by GMRVF
• Hon’ble CM lays foundation stone for India’s largest Exhibition and Convention Centre

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Group that operates the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, today kick started its 10th Anniversary celebration amid a glittering event held here.

Sri. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Hon’ble Chief Minister – Telangana graced the event - ‘Decade of Excellence’ as the chief guest. He formally inaugurated the event and also released the commemorative stamp and cover on the airport’s ‘Decade of Excellence’ amid much fanfare and enthusiasm.

During the event, the Hon’ble Chief Minister formally laid the foundation for expansion of the Airport. The expansion will enable the airport to double its passenger handling capacity. The event also marked the launch of Hyderabad Airport City and the laying of Foundation Stone for a mega Exhibition cum Convention Centre, which will be the largest of its kind in India. Making a significant headway towards fulfilling the vision of Hon’ble CM for Golden Telangana, the GMR Group has envisaged mega plans for the Airport, the Airport City and the Exhibition and Convention Centre, all of which were showcased during the event.

Post the formation of the State of Telangana in 2014, Hyderabad has been witnessing rapid socio-economic growth and in tandem the Airport has seen unprecedented growth of passenger traffic flow. Since 2014, the passenger traffic growth rate has tripled from 7% (till 2014) to about 21% year-on-year over the last 4 years. 

Thousands of people, who attended the decennial celebration event also witnessed the signing of MoUs on training programs conducted by the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, the CSR arm of GMR Group, which has completed 12 eventful years of service in Telangana. These MoUs were signed between GMRVF and Jaquar Foundation, Schneider Electric and Volvo respectively. On this occasion, gifted children supported by GMR VF were felicitated.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. G.M. Rao, Chairman of the GMR Group, said, “As India’s leading airport developer and operator, we take pride in creating national assets of world class standards. We are elated that India’s first Greenfield project under PPP model – Hyderabad Airport – has completed its glorious decadal journey and is considered as an iconic gateway of South and Central India. We feel privileged to be the custodian of this national asset. While we seek the continued support from our customers, stakeholders and partners; we are thankful to them for reposing faith in us and collaborating all along to make the journey a memorable and enriching one in the service of the nation. I am also pleased to note that the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation who started its activities in Hyderabad in year 2005 on the day the foundation stone for the airport was laid, over the years, it has been able to touch the lives of thousands of people in not just the immediate vicinity of the airport, but also in different areas of Telangana. We remain committed to ‘inclusive and sustainable growth’, in turn contributing to our Hon’ble CMs vision for A Golden Telangana”.

Sharing his thoughts, Mr. Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman–Airports, GMR Group, said, “Seeing GHIAL complete 10 years of operations is a proud moment for us at GMR. It’s been a remarkable journey in which we have seen the passenger traffic grow multifold and Hyderabad airport emerge as an important destination cum transit location.  In order to maintain GHIAL’s pole position as a leading gateway, we plan to increase the capacity of the airport to 30 million passengers. Further, Hyderabad being the IT hub, our vision is to leverage technological advancements and position GHIAL as a future ready smart airport”

Mr. SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, further added that “Hyderabad Airport has consistently raised the bar and created its own benchmarks in terms of service quality and operational excellence, and this has enabled the Airport to consistently rank among the world’s top 3 airports in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) rankings every year since inception”.

In its 10 year journey, the Hyderabad International Airport has evolved from a mere travel point to an Economic Hub and has driven socio-economic growth of the state.

Complementing the expansion of Hyderabad International Airport, GHIAL has also unveiled the Hyderabad Airport City, which is India’s first smart, Greenfield Airport City. The Airport City is being developed as a theme based anchor-led city consisting of Business Port, Health Port, Education Port, Fun Port, Logistics Port and Aerospace Port.

The other dignitaries, who graced the occasion, included Mr. K Taraka Rama Rao, the Hon’ble Minister for Industries & Commerce, IT, MA & UD and NRI Affairs - Government of Telangana; Mr. P Mahender Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Transport, Government of Telangana; Mr. K Vishweshwar Reddy, Hon’ble Member of Parliament - Chevella Lok Sabha Constituency; Mr. T Prakash Goud, Hon’ble MLA - Rajendranagar Assembly Constituency; Mr. T Krishna Reddy, Hon’ble MLA - Maheswaram Assembly Constituency; Mr. Rajiv Nayan Choubey (IAS), Secretary - Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India and Dr. Shailendra Kumar Joshi (IAS), Chief Secretary - Government of Telangana. The event also saw participation of leaders and dignitaries from various industry verticals in large numbers.

About GHIAL:

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is a joint venture company promoted by the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with Airports Authority of India (13%), Government of Telangana (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11%). The Company was incorporated to design, finance, build, operate and maintain a world class Greenfield airport at Shamshabad, Hyderabad. Hyderabad airport was commissioned in a record time of 31 months in March 2008, with an initial capacity of 12 million passengers per annum (MPPA) and 1,50,000 MT of cargo handling capacity per annum. The Project has the flexibility to increase capacity to accommodate over 40 MPPA and shall be developed in a phased manner.

For further information about GHIAL, visit www.hyderabad.aero