Hyderabad, Mar 14 : UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday heralded a new chapter in aviation history by inaugurating the first Greenfield airport of the country at Shamshabad about 30 km from here.

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, comparable to the best in the world, is the country's first greenfield airport developed under the public-private partnership initiative.

Built by the GMR group that has a majority stake of 63 per cent in the project, the Rs 2,470 crore airport has several firsts to its credit.

It has the longest runway in Asia at 4.26 km and the tallest air traffic control (ATC) tower in the country at 75 metres.

Accompanied by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, the UPA chairperson flew down to Shamshabad to participate in the inaugural function.

The greenfield airport spread over 5,400 acres is a joint venture of GMR group, Malaysia airports holdings Berhad which has 11 per cent stake in the project, Airports Authority of India and Andhra Pradesh Government having 13 per cent stake each. (ANI)