Centre mulling options for proper utilisation of decommissioned Begumpet airport
27 Mar 2008
Hyderabad: The union government is formulating a "business plan" for the recently decommisioned Begumpet airport in Hyderabad, which suspended services earlier this week after the inauguration of the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamsabad, according to an official of the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA).
"The airport was a revenue yielding asset and profit making. So we want to make use of the asset,"
KN Srivastava, joint secretary, MoCA said.
He said that a variety of options were being evaluated to utilise the airport properly, including the operation of non-scheduled flights and chopper services.
Establishment of training facilities here by the Airports Authority of India and Air India were some other options, Srivastava said.
On the issue of user development fee (UDF) for domestic passengers at the new international airport at Shamshabad, Srivastava said that "the ministry and GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), have agreed on a differentiated UDF scheme with varying rates for long-haul and short-haul services. The UDF would be very modest," he said.
The UDF would come into effect at the airport only after a few months.
