By Plane
Hyderabad's new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is
located at Shamshabad, 40 km away from the old airport at
Begumpet, which is now closed. The new airport is one of the
best aviation facilities in India and a real relief compared
to the chaos of Delhi and Mumbai airports. Getting to the
airport now requires a bit of extra time. Till the express
road to the airport is completed, you will need to allow at
least 1:00 to 1:45 hours to get there before check in.
Domestic check in and security put together take around 10
minutes in total.
Direct international connectivity from Hyderabad is available
for many countries. International carriers operating from
Hyderabad are Air India, British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air,
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia
Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines,
Singapore Airlines, Srilankan Airlines and Thai Airways.
Domestic connectivity is excellent with Air India (erstwhile
Indian Airline), Deccan, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite,
Kingfisher, Paramount and SpiceJet operating from here.
Once you arrive at Hyderabad airport, one option is to take
the air-conditioned buses run by the airport (Aero Express) to
three designated points in the city -(1) Begumpet (Paryatak
Bhavan)
(2) Secunderabad (Keyes High School)
(3) Hi-Tec City
(Opposite Shilparamam) at a fixed price of Rs 150 including
taxes and two designated points in the city
(4) Charminar
(City College)
(5) Mehdipatnam (Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital) at
Rs 120 including taxes per seat (travel time varies between 45
to 100 minutes depending on time of day and traffic
conditions). The buses have a frequency of a bus every 30
minutes between 03:30 am and 23:00 pm and every hour at
midnight, 1:00 am, 2:00 am and 3:00 am. You can reach the
designated points and then take auto or metered cabs from
there.
Alternatively, you can hire metered air-conditioned radio cabs
at Rs 15 per km like Dot Cabs (+91-40-2424-2424), Easy Cabs
(+91-40-4343-4343), Meru Cabs (+91-40-4422-4422), Orange Radio
Cabs (+91-40-4445-4647) and Select Cabs (+91-40-4415-1515).
Easy and Meru are officially approved by the Airport and are
available just after exiting out of the terminal building. For
the rest, you need to call and book with advance time of 15
minutes to 1 hour. These cabs charge 25 % surcharge in the
night (ie, Rs. 18.75 per km). Beware of taxi soliciting touts
at the airport greeting area, they will try to scam you into
paying more, stick with the metered Radio Cabs.
Hired cars are also available from a booth just before walking
outside of the airport. This gives you the advantage of paying
in advance, avoiding any disagreements over price.
The airport can be contacted on their (toll free for BSNL/MTNL
subscribers) number 1-800-419-2008 for all services and
enquiries including arrivals / departure information,
facilities, transport availability, etc.
By train Indian Railways runs its service to Hyderabad from all
over India.
There are three major railway stations serving the twin
cities: Secunderabad, Nampally (Hyderabad Deccan), and
Kacheguda and a minor station at Begumpet. By car
If you don't mind a long drive, Hyderabad is at a drivable
distance from Bangalore (via NH7 - 552 km). It is 752 km from
Chennai (NH9 and NH5) and 753 km from Mumbai (NH9 till Pune
and the expressway to Mumbai.) The Bangalore Hyderabad section
is part of the North South corridor which is being updated,
and is a four-lane divided highway. The quality of the road is
inconsistent. By bus
Hyderabad is well-connected to all parts of the Andhra Pradesh
and some parts of South India. CBS / Imliban is the biggest
station run by APSRTC (state-run) situated in Hyderabad and
JBS / Jubilee Bus station is in Secunderabad.. Imliban is said
to be the largest bus station in the world. APSRTC is in the
guiness book of world records for having the highest number of
buses in a particular state in the world. |
