The new airport at Hyderabad is commencing operation from today. Ashwin is traveling to Pune today and he has the unique opportunity of using the airport on the very first day of its operation.
To me decision of closing down the Begumpet airport and moving all operations to the new airport smells fishy. While I am not against the starting of the new airport, I dont see any logic behind closing down the old airport and shifting all operations to the new airport. The civil aviation ministry and state government together should have put the necessary infrastructure in place before taking such a drastic decision. The commute time to the new airport from the center of the city is anywhere between 1 1/2 to 3 hrs depending on the traffic situation. Also, the cost of operating out of the new airport is much more for the airlines (and ultimately the customer), than out of Begumpet.
Inspite of some airlines and the public asking for the older airport to be kept open for some more time or for operation of some of the low cost airlines, the decision was still made (in haste) to move all operations to the new airport. Obviously someone in the ministry has vested interests and this kind of blatant biasing is still not being checked in this day and age!
To me decision of closing down the Begumpet airport and moving all operations to the new airport smells fishy. While I am not against the starting of the new airport, I dont see any logic behind closing down the old airport and shifting all operations to the new airport. The civil aviation ministry and state government together should have put the necessary infrastructure in place before taking such a drastic decision. The commute time to the new airport from the center of the city is anywhere between 1 1/2 to 3 hrs depending on the traffic situation. Also, the cost of operating out of the new airport is much more for the airlines (and ultimately the customer), than out of Begumpet.
Inspite of some airlines and the public asking for the older airport to be kept open for some more time or for operation of some of the low cost airlines, the decision was still made (in haste) to move all operations to the new airport. Obviously someone in the ministry has vested interests and this kind of blatant biasing is still not being checked in this day and age!
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