HYDERABAD: The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here has been listed as the world’s third-fastest growing airport in terms of passenger growth, according to the Airports Council International’s (ACI) latest World Airport Traffic Report, in the category of ‘ >15 million passengers per annum’.
The RGIA was also ranked second in the country, after the Bengaluru airport, in terms of passenger growth. The Bengaluru airport secured the first spot globally. The RGIA was also featured as the world’s eighth-best airport in the AirHelp Passenger Survey Score 2019, where it was the only Indian airport to feature among the top 10 global airports.
The Hyderabad airport registered a passenger growth of 21.9 per cent in 2018 over the corresponding year. ACI World director general Ms Angela Gittens said, “India’s move towards a more liberalised aviation market and the nation’s strengthening economic fundamentals have helped it become one of the fastest-growing markets, with its traffic growing rapidly in a relatively short time.” Currently, the airport is served by 29 passenger airlines connecting 69 destinations, both domestic and international.
It has experienced robust growth in passenger traffic over a period of time, with a four-year CAGR of around 20 per cent from the financial year of 2015 to the financial year of 2019. On an average, the airport handles close to 60,000 passengers and over 500 air traffic movements daily.