The Hyderabad International Airport at Shamshabad is slated to commence its operations on March 16, 2008. Congress president Sonia Gandhi [Images] is expected to dedicate the new airport to the nation.

Named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Rs 2,478-crore international airport would be a boon to Greater Hyderabad. 

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Thursday wrote to Sonia Gandhi, requesting her to inaugurate the airport. Sonia laid the foundation stone for the new airport on March 16, 2005. Perhaps, for the first time in the country, an international airport is getting ready for inauguration three years' time.

Reviewing the progress of work at the new airport with officials, the chief minister said that the new airport, with world-class amenities, would provide much-needed infrastructure to handle large aircraft and international traffic in a big way.

The airport will have the capacity to handle 12 million passengers a year and it will cater to 40 million passengers a year in the final stage. Developed on a vast area of 5,400 acres, the airport will have unique features.

The chief minister reiterated that there would be a great fillip to industry, trade and commerce as well tourism sector in Greater Hyderabad, once the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport starts its commercial operations. He called upon the national and global investors to come forward with their huge investments and set up their industrial and business establishments.