The Hindu Business Line : Of Nawabi class

Move over cramped, cluttered airports with stinking toilets, congested and noisy arrival and departure halls, tiny immigration spaces, trolleys with broken wheels and inadequate baggage belts from where suitcases had to be quickly dumped on the sides to make space for more.

The Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has arrived to signal that the pathetic Indian airports are finally changing. The first thing that hits you about this airport at Shamshabad is its exquisite design, natural lighting and the feeling of space that you get as you negotiate the three different levels around which passenger services are concentrated.

Giving it competition is of course the Bengaluru International Airport, which is also spacious, swank, and spanking new but not as impressively designed. Talk to a set of business travellers who flit in and out of both these airports and they will tell you that they prefer Hyderabad to Bengaluru Airport (to be featured in the next issue).

To get an experience of both the airports, I began with Hyderabad and on landing was struck by its impressive and aesthetic design, and the feeling of spaciousness it provides. Built by the GMR-led consortium, work on this airport began in September 2005 and the first commercial flight landed here on March 23, 2008.

Boasting 12 aerobridges, 30 remote parking stands, 130 check-in counters and 16 self-check in kiosks, the airport handles about 20,000 passengers a day. This comes to about 7.3 million in its first year against the total capacity of 12 million. Provided, of course, that galloping fuel prices, rising inflation, mellowing business climate and recently hiked air fares don’t impact air travel too much.

Hyderabadi biryani

Walking around the airport you can see many passengers’ sense of awe and pride at this slick new facility; both mobile phones and tiny digital cameras are often pulled out to capture snapshots of the facilities. These include two bars — the IIFA and Hard Rock bars where passengers can have a drink before boarding their flight. But the real big draw in the domestic departure is the Indian Paradise outlet, where passengers can dig into delicious Hyderabadi Biryani, and take some home for the family or friends.

Vinu Varghese, General Manager of HMS Host, the global chain that is 111 years old and manages F&B operations in 104 airports around the world, including Hyderabad and Bangalore — shortly in Mumbai too, is upbeat about business prospects here.

Having heard complaints that coffee here costs a stiff Rs 80 (there has been a quick response and now you can buy coffee ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 150 and above at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf outlet), one asks him if Indian passengers are spending money at airports. “Oh yes, now that frequent fliers know a wide range of F&B services are available here, they plan their travel and have a leisurely meal or a drink here.”

Varghese says the IIFA bar in the domestic terminal is doing brisk business “with about 350 people frequenting it daily. Business travellers plan a meeting with colleagues here, and discuss their plans over a glass of beer.” At present Scotch is not on offer, but he promises it will be available soon.

But corporate bigwigs like MindTree’s Subroto Bagchi, a die-hard biryani enthusiast, admits that he heads straight for the Paradise counter, buys a packet of biryani and devours it at the adjoining restaurant. I see many more doing that, and also enjoying uppama, vadai, paav bhaaji and other delicacies.

But Hyderabad’s USP is the biryani and enough packed biryanis are kept ready in sturdy takeaway bags. “Most visitors don’t have the time to pick it up from the city, but when they see it here, they are happy to buy it,” says Varghese. At present the kiosk sells about 70 packets but demand is fast increasing!

A quiet airport

Enjoying a chicken biryani at the comfortable seating area, one noticed that unlike other Indian airports where departure announcements almost break your eardrums, this one was much quieter. Later, Kamesh Rao, Associate VP, Airport Development, explained that special speakers have been fitted by Bose to ensure that “for people who are 20 metres apart the sound level is the same for flight announcements. The result is that you can read, listen to your iPod or continue your dialogue on your mobile phone without having to wait for the jarring announcement to be over.” The airport is so quiet that even those who virtually scream on their cell phones are compelled to talk softly.

Also, there is maximum use of natural lighting; according to Vijay Vancheswar, Group Head and VP - Corporate Communications, GMR Group, during the day the airport building gets almost 80 per cent of its lighting from natural light.

“Before commissioning this airport, the (GMR) group chairman asked some of the key people in this project to visit the top 10 international airports, study their features, Indianise them and implement them here,” says Rao. By now he is a veteran and recalls how he’d walk almost 20 km a day when the airport was in its finishing stages. But then there are occasional rewards too, like unwinding with a friend at the IIFA bar. “But I had to first announce that I was off duty,” he smiles.

On the feedback from passengers, Rao says it has been “fantastic; of course there are some complaints about the distance from the city, but people are getting used to it.” Gradually the 95 air-conditioned coaches run by TVS Logistics are getting to be the chosen mode of transport to the airport, and about 3,000 passengers are now using them daily. Bharat Eapur, a Chennai businessman and a frequent flier to Hyderabad, finds the new airport “awesome and world class. My commuting cost has come down too. I take an auto paying Rs 20 to the nearest AC coach point and reach the airport in an hour by paying another Rs 95. It is cheaper and more comfortable.”

There are about 600 radio cabs and those using public buses have to alight 2 km away and then get onto the free shuttle service to the airport. There are clearly spelt-out signs at prominent points telling people where they can take the taxis/coaches, how much they cost, and so on.

Initial challenges

On the teething problems, Shankar Chelluri, General Manager, Corporate communications, RGIA, recalls that with this airport being “the pride of Hyderabad, we wanted to encourage people to come and see it.” They estimated one visitor for every passenger… about 40,000 people. So free access was provided; “what we didn’t bargain for was eight visitors to one passenger and about 1.75 lakh people thronging to the airport every day. From the car park we have one escalator to Arrival and another to Departure. With 1.75 lakh people here, we found on each step of the escalator seven people! We were worried the whole thing would collapse and had to switch it off.”

He says the “curiosity element” — an impressive structure in the middle of Shamsabad — made villagers, farmers and others walk from the surrounding areas to the airport. “People walked in the sun from NH 7, carrying food, water, children and a bedsheet, walking 7 km to see this airport.” The State Transport Corporation said it had ferried 1.5 lakh passengers to the airport in the first 15 days.

The result was stranded passengers and even fistfights, with the police having to intervene. “So we had to shut access, but then of course the media said it is an elitist airport! But in hindsight, it was all worth it.”

Capturing the drama and excitement of commissioning a facility such as an airport, Chelluri recalls that for the first week, from the MD onwards, the entire team had camped at the airport. “There were occasions when we physically lifted bags because the baggage carousals have sensors requiring minimum space between the bags; if these are kept too close, it gets jammed. When the first Lufthansa flight landed we were there to ensure that the 170 passengers got out of here as quickly as possible. We lifted their bags, deployed our personal vehicles or staff buses to ensure they had transport.”

Adds Vancheswar, “The immediate priority was to give the passengers a smooth passage; because, as a passenger, if you get stranded on the first day at an airport you won’t forget that experience.”

There were hiccups with the air-conditioning too — some places were too cold, others too hot — as also with the access door to the fixed arm of the aerobridge. The passengers were out of the aircraft and trapped in that corridor, as the man in charge of opening the door was loitering somewhere! It didn’t take too long for a couple of passengers to pull out their mobiles, call the media and say: “Yeh kaisa airport hei, aerobridge mei phans gaye! (What kind of airport is this; we are trapped inside)”.

P.S. Nair, CEO, RGIA, says the biggest challenge was delivery on time. “An airport of this magnitude would have taken 4-5 years; we did it in 28 months… between the first brick and commissioning. Also, this is a greenfield airport; it is one thing to build and another to operate it to international standards. Where was the trained manpower to do that?”

Some existed with the Airports Authority of India “but they are our valued partners and we did not want to poach from them.” So freshers were taken and trained. He believes that in terms of “opulence, terminal facilities and services, this airport meets the best of international standards. In terms of sizing of course we cannot be compared to a Changi (Singapore), which handles 35 million passengers and has a capacity to handle 70 million.”

Impressive duty-free

Vancheswar says the Nuans chain, which operates about 260 duty-free stores across the world, is in charge of retail, and has 12,000 sq ft duty-free space at the international arrival area. It stocks a wide variety of liquor, particularly fine and affordable wines, chocolates and perfumes. More than the choice available, it is the glitzy and spacious shopping area that greets passengers and relaxes them to indulge in some serious splurging.

Varghese is excited about the electric tandoors that will soon be operational to provide tandoori items at the Paradise stall. “Soon you will have tandoori roti and sheek kebab; McDonald’s is already here and KFC and Pizza Hut will open shop soon. So it will be up to the passengers to have an international experience with pizzas and burgers and coffee at CBTL or the Indian experience with paav-bhaaji and sheek kebab.”

Airlines have their own lounges and, naturally enough, Air India has a special one with a bar inside; one hopes against hope it will improve its service record first. This passenger, booked on an IC flight to Bengaluru, was stranded as it kept getting delayed. But as a fellow passenger, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, CEO of the Bangalore-based Karuturi Global Ltd — the largest exporter of roses from India and Africa, put it, the long wait was not taxing. One could walk around the place, sample the delectable fare available, and shop! “I spent Rs 3,000 while waiting, but didn’t mind it, because the airport experience was so good, which I can’t say for the Bengaluru airport.”

But at the end of the day, just as you can judge the cleanliness of a house by the state of its toilets, the Hyderabad airport’s washrooms, particularly their maintenance as of now, deserve mention. The women’s washrooms were being cleaned regularly. Also, the courtesy of the staff, not only in the washrooms but across the entire airport facility, deserves mention. This was in stark contrast to the Bengaluru experience. Got to do with the culture of the place, or what? But then Hyderabad is no Lucknow…

At a glance

The airport handles 20,000 passengers a day. Constructed in a campus of 5,495 acres; the airport has a floor area of 30,000 sq metres.

Project cost Rs 2,476 crore

Average daily flights: 120

Inline baggage security system: Your bags are X-rayed not at entry but check-in point, as in most international airports. Four levels of baggage screening; if at the fourth level there is a question mark, the passenger is summoned to open the bag.

Connectivity: 600 radio cabs, charging Rs 15 per km (Rs 19.50 in the night)

Parking: Rs 70; Rs 120 for premium parking; full-day parking Rs 600.

Total seating capacity: 2,300

Wi-fi enabled; a few free Internet connections available at Tata Indicom counters.

Accommodation: The airport has 25 rooms which can be hired on a four-hour basis. A 308-room Novotel hotel is nearing completion and will open in November.

Future capacity: The design allows the number of aerobridges to be increased, and the passenger handling capacity doubled from 12 million to 25 million.

Airport Operations Command Centre: About 360 cameras are located here, capturing passenger movements, which that are displayed on large screens. This is mainly from the logistics viewpoint and to remove bottlenecks in services. Security is monitored from the Security Operations Command Centre with 25 workstations.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

Related Stories:
New airport woes: They happen elsewhere too
New Hyderabad airport commercial operations delayed
Hyderabad airport: The changes in the air

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Airlines | Modernisation

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Of Nawabi class