New Hyderabad International Airport

Epicure

Visited the new airport at shamshabad on 3rd april to take a flight to bangalore. Started from Alwal at 6am and reached the airport at 7am (my cousin dropped in his car). Distance from alwal to shamshabad is around 50km. The airport is neat and clean including toilets. Check-in took less than 5min. I had a coffee for Rs106 (including service tax) and then breakfast for Rs150 at the airport.

Nick-H

Coffee for Rs106!.

You sure it wasn't Heathrow? That's outrageous.

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Nattusbs

Nick-H

International airport has international rates

Coffee for rs 106 translates to US$2.50. At the rate at which the US $ is falling it will be about US$3 which is on par with other international airport charges for coffee.

Cheers

Nattusbs

mr_rush

But Rs 100 is extortionate for airport coffee in India. Coffee is Rs40 in IGA Delhi

Hyderabadi

Look at it this way. They pobably want to get done with the money making chore fast and quick, asap.

Then it'll all be free.

Just pay the toll for the new expessways.

edwardseco

Think of it as India Rising..

Epicure

Yes boss iam sure. i and my mom first had a coffee as the flight was delayed by two hours. I paid Rs212 which translates to Rs106 per head including service tax. Then we had South Indian veg break fast and i paid Rs300 which translates to Rs150 per head. The break fast is buffet in nature and unlimited which i had the choice of having any or all of idly,vada and upma. For radio cabs, we need to shell out Rs1200 to reach the airport. The govt is in a fix now. They entered into an agreement that the existing airport at begumpet (which is in heart of the city) should be closed once the new airport is operational. Now the govt cannot run the old airport as the new airport is operational.Passengers are paying a heavy price not only in reaching to the new airport but also inside the airport.

Bigzero

At this rate the GMR folks will recover the airport investment rather quickly.

What next, 100Rs for taking a leak?

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capt_mahajan

In the sink, 151.50

Unlimited, too, like Epicure's meal.

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Epicure

its free for now. promotional offer i guess

Epicure

Nick-H

You just cannot resist that sink, eh, Capt.?

painkiller009

Can't wait more to see New airport. Will be landing in May.

Consolidator Charged $25 extra saying some reason like New airport so need to pay some kind of tax.

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Bigzero

Have been thro the new airport some 2-3 times already. Some quick observations ( all about the domestic departure/arrival as I haven’t used international yet - will actually be using it next week.. ).

- No baggage screening before check in – that’s a big relief. That is usually where the bottleneck is during peak hours.

- The airport is built for a traffic volume considerably higher than what is there now - this means that there is a lot of space inside, and lot of seats to sit and relax. Quite unlike the old airport where people were crowding around and jumping at the first vacant seat.

- A lot of gates for boarding, like most major airports, which is a relief, as you can directly go to your gate and settle down to wait for boarding.

- Can those announcements be a little less loud please? The incessant announcements are somewhat irritating. How many times should announcements be done? Don’t people know where to go? Aren’t enough display boards available?

- Talking about displays, LCD screens are used for flight info and they are everywhere. There is very little chance you will miss them

- some decent shops , and some are coming up. The bookstall is compact and nice. There is a self service eatery nearby where you get everything from Biryanis to Parathas . And they stock beer too! There are sufficient numbers of tables and chairs to settle down with your food. Nice. My flight was delayed by two hours and I had lunch there.

- Lot of escalators. very convenient.

- A couple of decent coffee shops in ground floor and first floor – but they are a bit expensive.

- Water fountains are available here and there if you want to quench your thirst

- Lot of aerobridges, but they are not being used much – most planes are parked far away in the tarmac, and boarding is through ground floor gates, with buses to take you to the planes. Wonder why aerobridges are not utilized fully – perhaps airlines have to pay higher fees to use the facility?

- During arrival, check-in baggage took its own sweet time to arrive at the claim conveyor belt.

- The ladders too took a while to come after the plane had stopped. On one occasion the plane connected to the aerobridge and that was much quicker.

- There is a helpdesk just outside the exit door as you come out of the airport. Usually you are caught by a smiling lady from the helpdesk before you actually reach there. They give you a small pamphlet containing the travel options to the city, and will also give you advice. Radio Cabs, Airport buses (both are parked nearby ), regular taxies, RTC buses ( parked a little distance away – I haven’t used them so I don’t know if there is any shuttle for reaching them ).

- Oh and once you are in the taxi/bus, just settle down into your seat and have a nap again – as it will take at least an hour to reach your destination ( especially if you are around Secunderabad )

- Overall the experience has been ok, no major complaints except for the distance. And you can feel that they haven’t yet got to an efficient mode of working yet – you can see some teething issues here and there. But I am sure they will get resolved eventually.

- I miss landing at the Begumpet Airport - there were a number of landmarks you could identify from the sky as the plane approaches the airport. With the new airport, it is as if you are landing in a strange place.

Bigzero

Missed an important point:

- if you choose the Logan cab to go to the city ( expensive - it will cost around 600+ bucks if you are in Secunderabad area ), make sure you sit in the front seat. Those rear seats dont have head rests, and if you want to doze off ( you might, since the drive is a good one hour ), you may find it a little inconvenient. The front seats are good.