Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

Hyderabad’s greenfield airport, RGIA at Shamshabad was inaugurated in 2008. The design philosophy was based on a seven-step formula: Make it simple; make it flexible; make it a loose fit; make it convenient, comfortable, attractive; maximize revenue generating areas; be generous with floor space and frugal with mechanical installations.

What it offers in the looks department is yet another web of steel girders sealed with acres of glass. But the atmosphere is “true

South Indian masala ”with a shopping carnival, a lucky drawing or concert taking place at any given time.

Particularly beneficial to business travelers is the Left Luggage Service, which enables those transiting through Hyderabad for day meetings to store their bags without the hassle of lugging them into town. There are the requisite airline lounges with business centers, plus two common-use lounges operated by Plaza Premium, which also runs the airport nap and shower transit hotel.

RGIA has been designed as an airport city – an “aerotropolis”– with business parks, hotels, entertainment arenas and shopping malls. The master plan calls for an additional two phases of expansion to the existing airport, which would bring the total capacity to 40 million passengers per year, nearly triple its current size.