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P.V. Sivakumar

Airport bus: For passengers worried over reaching the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad on time, the non-stop Aeroexpress shuttle service provides some hope. GHIAL, the airport promoter, has launched 30 of these air-conditioned Volvo buses from four points in Hyderabad at half-an-hour frequency. The one-way cost per passenger would be Rs 95. —

Our Bureaus

New Delhi/Hyderabad, March 20 The suspense is off. The new airport in Hyderabad will open on March 23, a week later than originally planned, with the two ground handling agencies there agreeing to drastically reduce the charges, which the airlines will have to pay to use their services.

Protest from some airlines against the high ground handling rates, being charged by the new airport, was the official reason for the airport operationalisation being delayed. The UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, inaugurated the airport on March 14 and it was scheduled to start functioning from March 16.

Sources told Business Line that the new rates being negotiated were likely to see the airlines paying for the services in a graded manner. The airlines are likely to be charged around Rs 9,000 for the first 10 flights operated in a day per airline with the subsequent flights being charged only Rs 6,500 as ground handling costs. Earlier, the airport authorities had proposed ground handling charges at Rs 22,000 per flight, then brought it down to Rs 13,000 and now to around Rs 9,000.

When contacted, a spokesman for the GMR Group said that the company was in talks with the two ground handling agencies and the outcome will be “pleasantly surprising” for all. While Air India has tied up with Singapore Air Transport Services, Menzies and Bobba Aviation have come together to provide ground handling services at the new airport.

Meanwhile, the airport has received the licence and clearance for operations of fire fighting systems from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and environmental clearance from the State Government.

As a goodwill gesture, the GMR group has decided not to levy any User Development Fee on departing international passengers till March 28 this year and has also waived car parking charges for the first week.

The Centre is looking at more revenue streams for Begumpet airport, which is to shut down when the new airport becomes operational. The Government sources indicated that helicopter operations may be allowed from the old airport.

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