5 million passengers expected on first day at Noida airport on October 1, 2024: CEO

Work on NIAL is on track and trial flights are expected in March 2024, while regular commercial and cargo flights may take off by the end of July 2024, says Arun Vir Singh, CEO of NIAL. Singh said the first flight is expected to take off from October 1, 2024.
“Once the project is complete with all the five runaways and the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility, the total passenger capacity is expected to be 225 million, and this “is going to be the biggest airport in Asia”.
There are also plans to develop Noida International Greenfield Airport, currently under construction in Jewar, into a transit hub for international airlines travelling to Asia-Pacific countries, such as Japan, Australia and Singapore.
Zurich International Airport AG is in talks with different airlines, like Tata Airlines, Indigo, SpiceJet and others, and everybody wants to make India a transit hub. This is an opportunity, especially since aviation companies are buying more aircraft.
“At present, we have only 600-odd aircraft in the country. Now we are going to have more than 1,200 additional aircraft, which are going to be purchased by SpiceJet, Indigo and Air India and Vistara. In that scenario, there is a huge possibility that the transit hub can be made here in Jewar and all the Pacific flights can be started from here,” he said.
UP budget 2023 allocates Rs 805 crore for Noida International Airport
Asked about how the Rs 805 crore would be utilised, Singh told to media that NIAL has already acquired 1,334 hectares of land as part of the first phase of the project.
NIAL is planning to acquire another 1,365 hectares for the MRO facility and an additional runway.
“For that, the government contribution is around Rs 800-odd crore. That’s why this amount has been released in the UP budget. The government has 37.5 percent share in this project, while the Noida Authority has a 37.5 percent equity and the Yamuna Authority and Greater Noida Authority has 12.5 percent each. So, there are four companies involved in NIAL. Accordingly, the government has released its share,” he explained.
Singh said the airport would be developed in four phases and each phase would have sub-phases. The first phase comprises 1,334 hectares, for which the construction is currently on. “It has four sub-phases,” he explained.
As far as passenger capacity is concerned, Singh said that the target is to achieve 12 million passengers at the first go, followed by 30 million passengers, then 50 million passengers, and, eventually, 70 million.
“Accordingly, the runway and the terminal building will come up,” he said.
Dedicated MRO facility at Jewar
As part of the second phase, NIAL is planning a dedicated MRO facility, which is currently not ‘big’ in India. There is a small MRO facility in Hyderabad and some other places, but the country is yet to have a massive facility on the lines of Singapore or Colombo.
As of now, for major overhauling or repairing work, aircraft are sent to Seattle or France. “That’s the reason why our country and the state government is keen to have a full-fledged MRO in Jewar. That’s why we are acquiring a 1,365-hectare land for a runway and an MRO facility. We are talking to big companies like Airbus, Boeing and others for establishing an MRO in India. We will come with a global bidding for this phase as well,” he said.
Asked when that would be, Singh explained that the land acquisition process was currently under way and that Section 11 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 has already been notified.
“Once the resettlement and rehabilitation plan is approved, it will be notified by the state government and disbursement of compensation will start. Once the compensation is disbursed, we will come up with a global bid,” he said.
As part of the third phase, NIAL is expected to acquire another 2,085 hectares. “In addition, another 1,200 hectares will be acquired for the aviation hub. So, a total of 6,200 hectares are expected to be part of this aviation hub and airport, and it will be developed in three major phases and 12 sub phases,” he added.
To become a major cargo hub; traffic from IGI to shift to Jewar
Singh said that the master plan for the upcoming airport has been carved out in a manner that “low-rise activities and different types of industrial clusters come around the airport.”
Warehousing and logistics facilities are the other important facilities that have been planned. Singh said the airport is being planned as a major cargo hub.
“As of now, the IGI airport is being fed by Noida. As much as 55 percent of the total cargo is from here. When we say air cargo, it means the software, electronics, mobile phones, SIM cards, and garments. The main IGI cargo is going from Noida and Ghaziabad, so that will automatically shift to Jewar airport and that will help develop the airport into a big cargo hub.”
Metro connector to cost Rs 8,000 crore; DPR to be ready in 15-20 days
A high-speed Metro connector from Jewar to the IGI airport has been planned.
“DMRC has completed its feasibility study. They are now preparing a DPR. One portion of DPR is already there. This is from Knowledge Park Greater Noida to Jewar. Another part of the DPR, from IGI to Greater Noida, is still in process. We will have the DPR in the next 15-20 days,” he said.
The corridor is expected to have six stops and the total distance is likely to be around 68 km. The time taken to cover the entire stretch will be 51 minutes, he said, adding it will cost around Rs 8,000 crore.
As for funding, he said: “We are expecting the central government to provide some assistance and the state government and the Authority will bear the remaining cost,” he added.
It should be noted that the UP government had signed an agreement with the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Authority (YEIDA) and the Noida and Greater Noida Development Authorities to monitor the work on the international airport. YEIDA is the nodal agency for project.
In July 2021, Zurich Airport International had signed a shareholder agreement with the UP government’s entity, NIAL, in Lucknow, for the development of the Noida International Airport.
Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL) had signed the agreement. It is a 100 percent subsidiary of Zurich Airport International and has been incorporated to develop the NIAL in Jewar, which is around 70 km from the main Delhi region.
The Zurich Airport International had outbid Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Ltd to win the 40-year concession for the Noida airport in November 2019.