Begumpet Airport

Begumpet Airport is an airport that serves Hyderabad in Telangana, India. It is located in Begumpet and caters to general and military aviation. The airport is home to the Begumpet Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force. Begumpet was built by the Princely State of Hyderabad in the 1930s and served as the city's commercial airport for several decades. It eventually became overcrowded, and there was little room for expansion. Therefore, a new airport was erected in Shamshabad. Upon the opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on 23 March 2008, Begumpet ceased all commercial operations.

History
Begumpet Airport was established on the outskirts of Hyderabad by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last nizam of the Princely State of Hyderabad. In 1934, the Hyderabad State Aero Club shifted to Begumpet from an airstrip in Habsiguda. Princess Durr-e-Shehwar laid the foundation stone for a terminal building during the Nizam's silver jubilee festivities in 1937. During the Second World War, the Royal Air Force took control of the aero club and set up a flying school at Begumpet. In May 1946, Deccan Airways, which was based in Hyderabad, began operations. Its first flight was from Begumpet to Bangalore. The airline operated India's first Hajj flight from the airport five months later. In May 1950, commercial airlines moved from the Hakimpet aerodrome to Begumpet. Two new terminals were completed in 1972.

In the 1990s, the government of Andhra Pradesh decided to build a new airport for Hyderabad. Officials ultimately chose a site in Shamshabad, 30 km from the city. Passenger counts were climbing quickly at Begumpet, and the terminals were inadequate. There was a lack of room to expand the airport; the development of the surrounding areas meant that Begumpet was now in the middle of the city. The growth of Hyderabad's information technology and pharmaceutical industries added more pressure to construct a new airport. In 2004, the Indian government signed a concession agreement with the consortium building the Shamshabad airport that required commercial operations at Begumpet to cease when the new airport opened.

In February 2005, Lufthansa commenced a nonstop flight between Hyderabad and Frankfurt, and Air Sahara set up a hub at Begumpet. The Airports Authority of India responded to the rising traffic by adding another jet bridge and five parking stands. Between April 2006 and March 2007, 5.8 million travellers passed through the airport, a 44% increase over the previous year. The final passenger flight to take off from Begumpet was a Thai Airways International flight to Bangkok at 00:25 on 23 March 2008. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport opened the same day. When scheduled service ended, Begumpet was the sixth busiest airport in India and was served by 10 Indian and 13 foreign airlines.

Facilities and operations
The airport has one runway named 09/27. It measures 3230 x and is made of macadam.

Begumpet is used for flight training and houses an air force station. Businesspeople, politicians, and others fly into the airport on their private aircraft. Begumpet also hosts Wings India, the country's first civilian air show. The biennial event is organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Airports Authority of India. It was first held in October 2008 under the name India Aviation.

During the period of commercial operations, Begumpet was officially called Hyderabad Airport and had two terminals. The domestic terminal was named for N. T. Rama Rao; the international one, for Rajiv Gandhi.

Accidents and incidents

 * On the night of 12 January 1978, an Indian Airlines Boeing 737-200 operating a flight from Bombay to Hyderabad had just touched down when the crew saw a man on the runway. The aircraft struck him, and he died while being transported to a hospital. The investigation determined that the man had breached security at Begumpet Airport.