Air travellers from the National Capital Region will soon get another airport to choose from, possibly within weeks, as Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu told The Indian Express Wednesday that the Noida International Airport in UP’s Jewar will be inaugurated on October 30, with flight operations starting within 45 days thereafter.
“We are trying to push the inauguration… Right now, the date that we have decided is October 30,” Naidu told this newspaper at the Hindon Airport during a visit to mark Yatri Sewa Diwas.
Asked about the number of flights from the airport, Naidu said airlines believe the area has “huge potential” and at least ten cities will be connected in the first phase. “The flights will connect Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and primarily all metro cities. We are in talks with Indigo, but there is no confirmation as of now,” the Minister said.
Naidu also said the Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to upgrade all airports in the country to international standards. “We have decided that free WiFi facilities will be provided to both domestic and international passengers at all airports within the next two months. Secondly… reading while travelling has evolved in recent times, and so we are looking forward to providing a free library and developing a kids zone at all airports,” he said.
Describing the Noida airport as a potential “strategic civil aviation hub” with “good cargo connectivity” as well, Naidu said, “Construction at the site has picked up. We are hopeful that it will be finished soon and that, in the first phase, one runway will become operational.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Christoph Schnellmann, CEO of Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), the Zurich Airport subsidiary overseeing the airport’s development, said it will have Indian warmth and hospitality, coupled with Swiss efficiency and Swiss technology.
“It will be warm and welcoming for passengers but distinct from other airports that one would travel to in India — from the architecture, to design elements, artwork, food and beverage, restaurants with local cuisine,” he said.
“For instance, Raj ki Galiyan will feature vegetarian food from Vrindavan, Mathura… We want it to be an airport that’s quite easy to use for passengers and airlines… It’s an airport with clear architecture, it would be easy to find your way… There are short distances, and there will be short transfer times,” Schnellmann said.
“We have tried to make it very much at home in western UP. From the choice of the granite to the architectural features in the forecourt, we picked up the idea of the Gods — whether it’s Varanasi or Haridwar. The ornamentation, the lattice screens, and the artwork that we commissioned are built on traditional artwork in UP,” the CEO said.
Currently, the Indira Gandhi International Airport, near the Delhi-Gurgaon border, serves as the main airport for travellers from Delhi and the extended NCR. There is also the Hindon airport in Ghaziabad, a defence base from where domestic flights have been operational since 2019.
The new facility at Jewar, nearly 60 km from Noida, will connect passengers from western UP, since it is adjacent to Noida and Greater Noida, and facilitate growth of several global investment projects in the area, and the semiconductor manufacturing centres that were recently announced.
The concession agreement for the Jewar airport was signed in October 2020, and the construction contract was awarded to Tata Projects in June 2022. The airport, developed by YIAPL, can handle around 12 million passengers annually in the first phase once completed.
Naidu, meanwhile, also addressed the delays and cancellations of flights that the Hindon airport witnessed last month. He said the Ministry has been in talks with the state government to expand the terminal building.
“We have requested the state government for 9 acres of land. Once the survey of the land is complete and we get the land, we will increase the size of the terminal building,” he said. “We are also in talks with the Indian Air Force to increase the number of parking bases.”
Source: The Indian Express
