The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday awarded commercial operations license to the new Hyderabad airport, clearing the way for the greenfield airport to start operations on March 16. The new airport is expected to kickstart its operations with a Lufthansa flight taking off at 1 am on March 16.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is expected to inaugurate the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, exactly three years after she laid its foundation stone. It will open with eight domestic and 11 international airlines connecting it to 35 destinations.

The airport has been built through a public-private joint venture between GMR Group, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and both the Andhra Pradesh Government and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The GMR Group holds 63 per cent of the equity, MAHB 11 per cent, the AP Government and AAI hold 13 per cent each.

With all round criticism on the proposal to impose a User Development Fee (UDF) for additional facilities at the airport, GMR has finally given in, agreeing to charge only international passengers with a UDF of $25 each.

The airport promises to offer a truly international experience with its integrated terminal capable of handling 12 million passengers per annum and 100,000 metric tonnes of cargo in its first phase, the longest runway in the country at 4,260 metre that is capable of comfortably hosting the mega machine, A320, a taxiway just as long and capable of doubling up as a runway in case of emergency.