Hyderabad airport recovers 66% of domestic traffic in January 2021

Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RDIA) is ranked as the World's 3rd fastest-growing airport in the category of 15 million passengers. With a steady increase in the number of passengers and air traffic, RGIA is leading the revival of the aviation sector in India post the nationwide lockdown last year. Hyderabad Airport Media is a joint venture between the GMR Group & Laqshya Media Group. 

RGIA has seen good growth post Covid-induced lockdown, which brought the aviation industry to a sudden halt. Domestic passengers recovered to 66% in January 2021 as compared to passengers in January 2020 (in comparison Delhi and Bengaluru recovered 60% of the domestic passengers and Mumbai 51% as per last year’s numbers). The number of domestic passengers in the airport has reached 10.54 lakh in January 2021.

Domestic air traffic recovery was also the fastest for Hyderabad Airport. The number of flights plying to and from Hyderabad airport has also recovered 71.45% - 328 flights per day in January 2021, as compared to 459 flights per day in January 2020.

RGIA continued to handle evacuation flights operated by various countries for their citizens and for the Vande Bharat Mission and the Air Transport Bubble agreements initiated among various countries. The airport also extended its indigenously developed digital solution of E-boarding services to international flights, becoming the first airport in India to do so.

RGIA also completely changed their existing processes to keep up with safety protocols like contact-less replication of keyboards at self-check in kiosks onto one's smart phones to aid printing of boarding card and luggage tags in a contactless way.

As a result of RGIA’s continuous efforts in customer service and understanding of feedback to understand the needs of flyers during the COVID-19 pandemic, RGIA received the Airports Council International's (ACI) prestigious ‘Voice of Customer’ recognition.

The latest achievement coming RGIA’s way is the ACI’s ‘Airport Service Quality Award’, 2020. It recognizes RGIA as the best Airport by size and region in Asia Pacific region in its category of 15-25 million passengers per annum.

Vikram Hemdev, COO – Laqshya Hyderabad Airport Media Pvt Ltd (LHAMPL)said, “Hyderabad is where all the action is taking place. It has emerged as the world’s most dynamic city (dethroning Bengaluru) by claiming the top spot in the JLL City Momentum Index (CMI) 2020, a global ranking of cities. It is ranked as the best city to live and work in India; the second home to the world’s top tech giants; powering an innovation ecosystem, promoting clean energy, sustainability & a quick transition to EV, thanks to the bold reforms and proactive policies.”

The mid to premium Hatchback sales in Hyderabad is ranked 3^rd, after Delhi and Bangalore; compact SUVs sales is ranked 2^nd, only after Delhi.

The government plans to invest Rs. 10,000 Cr. for Pharma Manufacturing and a 19,000-acre-Hyderabad Pharma City will attract another Rs. 64,000 Cr. Hyderabad alone accounted for 20% of India’s total Pharmaceutical Exports of India in FY19-20 was $20.70 Bn.

Besides, 12 new malls are coming up in HITEC City, Secunderabad, Begumpet and Miapur by end of 2021, covering an area of 6.5 Mn sq. ft.

Hyderabad also recorded the highest increase in prices of residential spaces in Oct 2020! Hyderabad had a growth of 7% (YoY) as compared to Ahmedabad - 6% (YoY), Bengaluru - 3% (YoY), Kolkata - 3% (YoY), Pune - 2% (YoY), Greater Mumbai - 2% (YoY), Delhi NCR - 2% (YoY).

Hemdev adds, “Even from a COVID-19 perspective, Hyderabad Airport has been on the forefront of the Global Vaccine Distribution Program, thanks to their unparalleled Air Cargo handling services. Not surprising then, it clearly indicates that Hyderabad is poised to become the Next Big Hub.”