Hyderabad International Airport (HIA) in Hyderabad and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) in Bangalore, Almost started and about to complete at the same time, these airports are like twins (though there might be difference in plan, execution and opening date, considering the span of such huge projects, its negligible) these airports in Southern India will become youngest and efficient (capable of accommodating A380, the big boy in planes, and about 15 million passengers/yr) airports in India when completed. No doubt, these twins along with Cochin International Airport (youngest in india till date) form a Triplet and provide citizens great connectivity to international and domestic destinations. They further boost the economy in many ways and generate many direct and indirect jobs for their people.
Work is going on in full pace at these both sites. Here is a walk-through about them with live footage.
HIA
Salient Features
- 75% of aircraft's will be parked on stands at the terminal connected by passenger boarding bridges. 90% of passengers will use these gates.
- Sufficient area for parking ramp handling equipment will be provided close to the pier.
- Type C and smaller aircraft's can be pushed back along the terminal pier without interrupting the traffic on the adjoining apron taxiway.
- The cargo apron will accommodate code F aircraft's while the maintenance apron is designed for code C aircraft's.
- All aprons are designed as concrete pavements.
- All aircraft stands will be equipped with fuel hydrants supplied through underground pipelines from the fuel farm.
Facilities in Initial Phase
- Terminal Area 105,300 sq.m (including undercroft)
- Peak Hour passenger Capacity 3,200
- Capacity : 15 million people/annum
- Boarding Bridges 12
- Baggage Handling System In-Line X-Ray
- Runway Length/ Width/ Shoulder :4,260 m/ 60 m / 7.5 m
- Taxiway Length/ Width/ Shoulder :4,260 m/45 m/ 7.5 m
- Apron Area 137,000 sq m
- Airfield Ground Lighting CAT 1 ( Both Ends)
- Cargo Capacity 100,000 tonnes / year
Current State
BIAL
Terminal
- Layout: The passenger terminal is proposed as a single, fully air-conditioned, Four-level building capable of accommodating international and domestic operations. The basement houses the retail storage, rest areas and services. It will cover 71,000 square meters.
- Capacity: 11 million people per annum
- Aircraft Movements: 27 per hour
- Check-in Counters: 54
- Gates: 16
- Aero-bridges: 8, including one double arm aerobridge
- Aircraft stands: 42
- Terminal parking: In the first phase of development, a car park for 2,000 cars in front of the terminal building at the ground level will be developed for the convenience of passengers and visitors to the airport.
Runway
- Length: 4000 meters
- Width: 45 meters
- Width plus light paved shoulders: 60 m
- Orientation: 09/27
- ICAO
Current State
When these both are compared, Hyderabad’s got an ovation in its design and execution, it is very ahead of its schedule. The BIA was redesigned from the initial plan to meet more requirements as per complaint by the Central Government about the quality of airport. Like adding insult to injury, the second time, Centre is also unhappy about BIA and dumped the design for the BIA while approving HIA. It sighted due lack of a canopy outside the terminal building, again in view of the rain. Design factors like lack of distance between the escalators/ staircases have also been pointed out.
The look of this airport is also like that of a factory; there is no international flair. In contrast, the Hyderabad airport looks truly international. They have used the best of the consultants for everything. Even the additions AAI has made to the Mumbai airport look better,
officials said.The ministry has suggested that colour and geometric shapes should be used to make the airport look bright and lively. Hyderabad prides itself on its
spacious and abundant natural light .