UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday evening inaugurated Hyderabad's swanky, new international airport named after late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Shamshabad, about 30 kms from Hyderabad's central business district.

At a glittering ceremony arranged at the sprawling airport complex, Gandhi said that air travel was no longer elitist and the entry of private airlines had virtually opened up the skies.

In a brief speech, she recalled her late husband's association with Hyderabad. "Today is indeed a momentous occasion for people of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and the country," she said and pointed out that she was normally averse to attending functions to lay foundation stones and preferred to be present at commissioning ceremonies.

Gandhi, who had laid the foundation for the new airport at Shamshabad exactly three years ago -- on March 16, 2005 -- said that she had made an exception in the case of this airport "as it is located in Andhra Pradesh, a state with which my family has such a close relationship and considering that Hyderabad was the city where my husband had undergone his advanced training as a pilot. I am sure that Rajiv Gandhi would have been not only happy but also proud to see what has been achieved here in such a short time."

"There was a time when air travel was considered elitist - not any longer. In the past few years, thanks mainly to the entry of private airlines, fares have dropped and new routes have been opened up. Passenger traffic has zoomed and connectivity has significantly improved," she said.

She admitted that overriding priority for public investment would naturally remain with the railways but there would be no competition between the upgradation of rail network and the further expansion of our airways and air connectivity.

"In fact, air connectivity has a vital role to play in accelerating the development of interior and backward regions where our cultural and historical heritage lies unexplored and unvisited," she pointed out.

Gandhi said that the Andhra Pradesh government had taken up nine such airports in the state. The Shamshabad airport would act as a magnet to stimulate new investment and improvement around it.

"India's first semiconductor chip manufacturing complex called Fab City is coming up close by with around $7 billion investment commitment over next 10 years. In this Fab City, there are also a number of companies who are into manufacture of solar cells and solar energy systems," she added.

"This, too, was an area of great work and great priority for Rajiv Gandhi, who is widely acknowledged as being the single most important catalyst for India's entry into Information Technology and micro electronics era," she recalled.

Greater Hyderabad has also emerged as India's leading centre for higher education and tertiary health care and Shamshabad airport would help the region to consolidate and move ahead in these areas as well.

A large cargo complex, along with associated cold chain infrastructure, would help the farmers of Andhra Pradesh to export their produce and increase their income, she observed.  

She emphasised that ways must be found to ensure that the families whose lands have been acquired for this massive airport complex gain in a continuing basis from the commercial activity generated at the airport and around it. "There are other innovative ways that the airport here can fulfill in the region in supporting larger social objectives," she added.

A crucial expressway connecting the new airport to the city is under completion. It would take a few months and this would cause discomfort to the people of Andhra Pradesh but their patience would be well paid.

"It has been a befitting gesture to name the Expressway after P V Narasimha Rao, under whose premiership our economy underwent a significant transformation," she said, acknowledging the contribution of the late prime minister, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh. 

Chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurated Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, Hyderabad, on 14th March, along with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and AP Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajsheker Reddy and G N Rao of GMR construction.