14 FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD CLASS HYDERABAD AIRPORT.

GMR-Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is a joint venture company promoted by GMR Group (63%) in collaboration with Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) (11%), Government of Andhra Pradesh (13%) ( not sure of the division between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh now )  and the Airports Authority of India (13%) as the other consortium partners.

In 2003, GHIAL won the bid to develop and operate the green field international airport at Shamshabad in Hyderabad through an international competitive bidding process conducted by the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Government of India.


GHIAL have ever since undertaken the responsibility to build, finance, operate and maintain the new airport under a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative. The total investment for the airport construction was estimated to be Rs24,780m. Now, what do you expect? GHIAL was successful in its role of coming up with one of the best airports the country has ever seen! Since its initiation, it has not failed to exceed its own achievements with each time; and thus, went on to become one of the world’s most sought after airports. And with this, we present to you 14 reasons why the Shamshabad Airport in Hyderabad is undoubtedly one of the best we have today –

It is one of the safest airports in the world. GHIAL has been awarded the 5-star rating for its Health and Safety Management System from the British Safety Council.  While the cut off for the 5-Star rating is 92%, they scored 96%.

RGIA is the first airport in the world to get the 5-Star Rating. The ‘Sword of Honour’, considered to be the Oscar of the Safety World, is a highly acclaimed universal recognition.

It is an incredible achievement, particularly considering the fact that this implementation of the system in an airport with multiple stakeholders is a herculean task. The achievement clearly demonstrates RGIA’s commitment towards Health & Safety.

It has a world ranking in the 5-15 million category. In 2010, Airports Council International (ACI), the definitive authority of the world’s airports, had announced the top performing airports in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey. RGIA bagged first position in the 5 to 15 million passenger capacity airports in the world.

It is the fifth best airport in the world. Both worldwide and in the Asia-Pacific region. This unique achievement comes within less than two years of the green field airport having commenced operations.

It won the National Tourism Award. Think about the accolades it brought the state! Yay! RGIA has been awarded the prestigious National Tourism Award 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 under the Best Airport category. The award was given away to RGIA for four consecutive years in recognition of its efforts in actively promoting tourism, not only in the state but also at the pan-India level.

It has an amazing “Cargo Terminal”. RGIA has been honoured with the ‘Best Cargo Airport & Best Cargo Terminal of the Year’ for the year 2012 & 2013 by the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) for its excellence in cargo operations and best-in-class Infrastructure and Services.

The way it has emerged is like none other! The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has been adjudged as the best emerging airport in the Indian Subcontinent at Emerging Airports Awards on 30th January 2013 at Dubai.

What’s more?This airport has a colossal ‘Energy Conservation’ mechanism. GHIAL has been awarded a Certificate of Merit in the General Category Sector for the National Energy Conservation Awards – 2011 in recognition of the initiatives taken by GHIAL to conserve energy.

The certificate was presented by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Power, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde to Mr PS Nair, CEO Airport Sector, GMR Group at the National Energy Conservation Day Award Function on 14th December 2011 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

And undoubtedly! It is an international favorite in India too! GHIAL was adjudged as the ‘Favourite Indian Airport’ at the Condé Nast Traveller India Awards. The award was introduced by British Condé Nast Traveller magazine, together with Vogue.com and cntraveller.in to celebrate the launch of Condé Nast Traveller in India. The awards were given based on a survey among the readers in UK, who voted in the relevant categories to choose the best in Indian Tourism.

Mr. Vikram Jaisinghani, Deputy CEO, GHIAL received this Award at a glittering ceremony held in Mumbai on April 2010. What do you call a combination of TECHNOLOGY and ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT? Progress!

GHIAL has bagged the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation’s (CAPA) newly instituted award in the category, “Best Airport Environmental Performance of the Year” in October 2009.

Asia Pacific airports, airlines and the industry are reviewed constantly through the year via the Centre’s extensive data and information services gathering and reporting. This daily performance analysis, along with feedback from CAPA Members, is accumulated into a series of recommendations. A highly experienced aviation advisory panel – including industry CEOs – reviews and decides on our recommendations.

Have you ever studied the ‘Carbon Footprint’? Airport Carbon Accreditation, under the administration of WSP Environment & Energy Ltd, confirms that the carbon management processes at have earned the accreditation level of REDUCTION, in recognition of their efforts to manage and reduce their CO2 emissions, as part of the airport industry’s response to the challenge of Climate Change. It is renowned for its world class infrastructure. Yes, the fact that it won the CNBC Infrastructure Excellence Award for Airports in 2009 stands testimony to this.

What do you think makes it quintessential? Its customers crave for more! And they come back. Every single time.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) received the Quality Excellence Award for Best Customer Service Result at the National Quality Excellence Awards2013. Hosted by the Stars of the Industry Group, the award was presented at the World Quality Congress on 14th February, 2013 at Mumbai. Conceptualized more than 40 years ago, these awards are known to be a platform for recognizing performance par excellence.

Whoever said that “he who remains consistent is the one who remains at the top”, said it right.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport had yet again received the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Award for “Excellent Energy Efficient Unit” during the ‘15th National Awards for Excellence in Energy Management 2014’.

 

Southie: Vaishnavi Ray