The prime minister unveiled a plaque to mark the opening at 10.40 am at a function also attended by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Andra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah and G M Rao, chairman of GMR group, which led the consortium of companies that built the terminal, were also present.

The new terminal is the sixth largest in the world after those at Dubai, Beijing, Singapore, Bangkok and Mexico City, the promoters said.

It is spread over 5.4 million square feet to give an experience of a city within, officials said. The swank new terminal can cater to 34 million passengers annually. The current international terminal can handle around 10 million passengers.

It has 78 aero-bridges, 168 check-in counters, 92 automatic walkways and five-level baggage screening system with a capacity to handle 12,800 bags per hour.

The energy efficient and environmentally friendly terminal has the latest IT system to meet the passenger needs.

It has an eight-lane approach road from the city, a high speed metro rail link to the city centre Connaught Place and a multi-level car parking with capacity for 4,300 cars.

Source: IANS