Noida International Airport to be inaugurated on Oct 30: Civil Aviation Min Naidu

Noida/Lucknow: The Noida International Airport will be inaugurated on October 30, and flight operations are expected to start within 45 days, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu has said.

The greenfield airport is located in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, about 75 km from Delhi.

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This will be the second international airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

"We are trying for an early inauguration so that we can see it happen very soon. Right now, the date that we have decided is October 30, when we will have the inauguration and within 45 days, we can see the operations also start," the minister told reporters during an event at the Hindon airport in neighbouring Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

Naidu further said, "...the airlines are very much excited to operate from the Jewar airport, also they feel that there is huge potential in that area. So, I can see that at least 10 cities will be connected in the first phase from Jewar airport, as seen in discussions that are happening with the airlines".

The minister also noted that it will have more significance as a strategic airport with a focus on cargo operations than passenger flights.

The airport is being built by the Uttar Pradesh government in a PPP model.

Meanwhile, in a press conference in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also confirmed the opening of the Noida International Airport by the end of the year.

In the press meet, he also hailed the recent GST reforms.

"Since 2017, seven expressways have been built, with work underway on six more. From having no metro services before 2017, the state now has metros operating in six cities. Airports too have expanded -- from just two fully operational and two partially functional in 2017 to 16 fully operational airports today, with India's largest airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar set to open by the end of this year," he added.

According to project officials, work is nearing completion for the launch of the first phase of the Noida Airport, spread over 1,300 hectares, with one runway, one terminal and an annual passenger capacity of 12 million.

The complete airport will be made in four phases and span around 5,000 hectares with at least two runways and an annual passenger capacity of 70 million.

Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a 100 percent subsidiary of the Swiss company Zurich Airport International AG, is developing the airport in the PPP mode.

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