Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is the principal airport serving Hyderabad and the Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, located at Shamshabad 15 mi (24 km) south of the city center. HYD consistently ranks as one of India's five or six busiest airports and carries 139 routes to 97 destinations operated by 35 airlines — a network breadth that reflects Hyderabad's status as one of India's premier IT, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology centers and a major international business origin-and-destination market. When HYD opened in 2008 as a greenfield privately financed airport, it replaced the old Begumpet field and established a new model for Indian airport development; the GMR-led consortium operation has since won consecutive Skytrax service awards for its size category. IndiGo operates HYD as one of its most important bases with a substantial stationed fleet, supported by SpiceJet, Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and Vistara on the domestic network. International service includes Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Saudia, flydubai, Oman Air, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia, British Airways (seasonal), Lufthansa, and direct US service via Air India and United to North America. The route network reaches across South Asia, the Gulf, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America, with the Gulf carriers providing the majority of long-haul one-stop connectivity for the large Hyderabadi diaspora. The airfield sits at an unusually high 2,024 ft (617 m) elevation with two parallel asphalt runways — 09R/27L at 13,976 ft (4,260 m) and 09L/27R at 12,162 ft (3,707 m). The 09R/27L runway is among the longest in India and can accommodate full-payload A380 and 777-300ER operations. The single integrated passenger terminal, undergoing a major multi-phase expansion that has progressively lifted annual design capacity well past the original 12-million figure, uses a linear airside layout with contact gates and remote stands. HYD is also a major cargo airport, anchoring India's central-south air-freight network.