Planning (1991–2004) The existing commercial airport,
Begumpet Airport, was unable to handle rising passenger traffic. The State Government initially considered converting
Hakimpet Air Force Station to civilian use; however, the
Air Force refused. When the State proposed the construction of a new airport for the Air Force, the
Ministry of Defence suggested the State consider sites south of Begumpet Airport. By October 1998, the State had narrowed down to three possible locations for the new airport:
Bongloor,
Nadergul and
Shamshabad. Due to its convenient location near two highways (
NH 44 and
NH 765) and a railway line, In November 2000, under the
N. Chandrababu Naidu government and the
Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a
memorandum of understanding on the
greenfield airport project, establishing it as a
public–private partnership. The State and AAI together would hold a 26% stake in the project, while the remaining 74% would be allotted to private companies. Through a bidding process the consortium consisting of
Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR Group) and
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad was as the holder of the 74% stake. In September 2003, the members of GHIAL signed a
shareholders' agreement, as well as an agreement for state subsidy of over . A
concession agreement between GHIAL and the
Central Government was signed in December 2004, stipulating that no airport within a radius of RGIA could be operated. Thus, the closure of Begumpet Airport was required.
Construction and opening (2005–2008) The project was forwarded when
Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy gained power and construction began by
GMR on 16 March 2005 when
Sonia Gandhi laid the
foundation stone. Two days prior, the Central Government had named the airport after former Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi, who had undergone pilot training in Hyderabad. The naming resulted in opposition from the
Telugu Desam Party (TDP). At Begumpet Airport, the international terminal was named after Rajiv Gandhi while the domestic terminal was named after TDP founder
N. T. Rama Rao; TDP wanted to continue this naming convention at the new airport. However, the new airport has only one terminal. Roughly three years after the foundation stone laying ceremony, the airport was inaugurated on 14 March 2008 amid protests. TDP repeated its demand for the naming of the domestic terminal. RGIA was originally scheduled to open to commercial operations on 16 March 2008; however, the date was delayed due to protests from some airlines over the high
ground handling rates at the airport. Once the rates were reduced, the launch date was set for 23 March 2008. Although
Lufthansa Flight 752 from
Frankfurt was scheduled to be the first flight to land at RGIA, two
SpiceJet flights landed earlier. However, the Lufthansa flight still received the planned ceremonial welcome upon its 12:25 am arrival. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport reassigned the IATA airport code,
HYD, from
Begumpet Airport after the previous airport ceased international commercial flights.
Later developments (2009–present) In September 2011,
SpiceJet launched its regional hub at RGIA, using its new
Bombardier Q400 aircraft. The airline, which chose Hyderabad due to its central location in the country, flies to several
Tier-II and Tier-III cities from the airport. Regional airline
TruJet too opened a hub at RGIA upon commencing operations in July 2015. In November 2014, the
Ministry of Civil Aviation resolved that the domestic terminal of RGIA would be named after
N. T. Rama Rao, resulting in protests from members of the
Rajya Sabha. Airport officials remained unsure as to how the naming would occur. ==Ownership==