Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Shri K.C. Venugopal informed the Rajya Sabha that Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad is among the airports which has been identified for development as international hub.
An `international airport` is an airport designated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Contracting State in whose territory it is situated as an airport of entry and departure for international air traffic.
At such airports, formalities relating to Customs, immigration, public health, agricultural quarantine and similar procedures are carried out.
On the other hand, a hub is an `international airport’ where facilities are planned to handle large volume of transfer/connecting passengers along with one or more carriers having a base at the airport with ability to provide wide network on domestic to domestic, domestic to international, international to domestic and international to international sectors.
Besides Hyderabad Airport, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai International Airports have been identified for development as international hubs.
As per the decision of the Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 9th May, 2013, a standing Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) has been constituted to remove the bottlenecks and to provide the right coordination mechanism for the development of aviation hubs in India.