Click to play videoHyderabad: Hyderbad’s GMR airport is up and running but not without its fair share of glitches.
The first is easy and cheap connectivity.
There are a few options for getting to Shamshabad – you can take a taxi, GMR's radio taxis or GMR's aeroexpress buses. The cheapest option is, of course, the bus but even that costs Rs 95 per passenger one way.
This 30-kilometre ride is anything but smooth with several ruts in the road and traffic jams at various points. Going to the airport by taxi is an expensive proposition.
But GMR's aesthetics are indeed world class.
Spread over 5,500 acres and built at a cost of Rs 2,500 crores, this airport has 130 check-in counters to facilitate a super-fast entry.
In addition to that, instead of waiting until your baggage is screened, all you have to do is check it in. It passes through four levels of checks and if there is a security issue, your baggage will be set aside and your name called to remove the hazardous material. The end result is that there are no queues for check-in or the security check.
"It takes only about three minutes for the entire process to get over. Allow for a bit more and one can easily be at the airport 15 minutes before take-off and still make it comfortably in time,” said GMR’s VP (Corporate Planning and Risk Management) A Viswanath.
The processes are indeed quick and trouble-free, but if you get hungry in the airport, you would have to be prepared to shell out Rs 53 for a cup of coffee, which is the cheapest thing on the menu.
The steep prices are not just restricted to the food. Duty-free prices are 60 per cent more expensive than in other airports in the country.
Another problem is that there is only one help desk, which is not too much help.
On the brighter side, however, GMR officials say there will be minimum delays in the airport.
In the second phase of construction, GMR will also offer a brand new runway along with a second passenger terminal building, all within two years.
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