Rajiv Gandhi International Airport welcomes first Airbus A380

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Code F specifies the requirements of an airport in terms of facilities like runways, taxiways, aprons, boarding bridges and stands, rescue and fire-fighting service for landing and take-off of the largest passenger airliners like A380.

Salient Features of Code F airport:
 
-Runway width as per ICAO standards is 60 meters: RGIA has 60 meters + 7.5 meters shoulders on either side.
 
-Taxiway width as per ICAO standards is 25 meters: RGIA has 45 meters. Other entry/exit taxiways are 25 meters wide.
 
-RGIA has two dedicated stands Nos. 55 and 56, specially earmarked to accommodate A380 jumbos, out of which one stand 55 the aerobridge can reach the upper deck of A380 which is 8.1 meter high.
 
-The aerobridges are capable of providing the aircraft up to 180 KVA of ground power.
 

Mr. P S Nair, Chief Executive Officer, GHIAL said, “It is a momentous day for us. Ours is the first airport in the country that is Code F compliant, where a fully loaded A380 can land. This is the first time that A380 landed at RGIA. We are thankful to Airbus for making it happen.”

Mr. Viswanath Attaluri, Chief Commercial Officer, GHIAL said, “When some global airlines induct this aircraft in their fleet, RGIA will be connected with A380 flights to various international destinations.”

He further added that, with the introduction of A380s, passengers can fly non-stop to US and other destinations from Hyderabad.

Mr. Kiran Rao, Executive Vice President, Airbus said, “The A380 has already visited more than 70 airports around the world today we are very happy to bring the superjumbo to the new and modern Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. This is the second time we bringing the flagship of the 21st century to India. In 2007 we already brought the test aircraft to Delhi & Mumbai and showcased the easy integration of the aircraft into the existing airport facilities. Today we have the most modern airliner land in the most modern airport.”



(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 22-Oct-08

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