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Hyderabad International Airport witnessed 16 % rise in passenger traffic in 2011-12 but figures are expected to go down in the current fiscal year. In 2011-12, around 2 million passengers took international flights to India for landing up in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has registered 16 per cent growth in passenger traffic during 2011-12. The growth, however, is expected to go south in the current fiscal year, given the issues faced by the Indian aviation industry.
The airport registered 8.6 million passengers including 1.9 million foreign passengers who took flights to India to land up in Hyderabad.
Consistently ranked among top airports of the world by different agencies, Hyderabad international airport completed four years of operation in March 2012.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), the company that operates the airport, said it was the second airport after Delhi to log the fastest growth of passenger traffic.
“This year does not look as attractive as the two previous years, mainly due to the local challenges in the aviation sector,” said GHIAL Chief Executive Officer Vikram Jaisinghani.
The airport had registered 17 per cent growth in passenger traffic during 2010-11.
“It will be a challenge to maintain the growth this year,” he was further quoted in a report published on Thursday in a leading Indian financial daily.
Mr Jaisinghani, however, is not expecting negative growth as he believes that the demand will continue to grow. He wished that the second half of the financial year would offer better figures.
He highlighted that there was not much growth in the international passenger traffic in 2011-12 owing to capacity problem but expressed faith that this year multiple operators would launch new international flights to the airport.
“We expect lot of bilaterals this year,” he said.
As per reports, Turkish Airlines is eager to operate a Hyderabad – Istanbul flight.
GHIAL is a joint venture that is promoted by GMR Infrastructure Ltd, Malaysian Airports Holding Berhad, Airports Authority of India and Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, a world class airport, is designed to handle 12 million passengers per year. The airport has plans to augment the final capacity to 40 million passengers.
With cheap flights to India always in demand, the country indeed remains one of the frequented holiday destinations in Asia. However, a struggling Indian aviation sector is seen as a big concern for tour and travel market worldwide.