Jewar airport to be Asia’s biggest: Scindia

Union minister of civil aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said Jewar airport will be the 10th airport to be built in Uttar Pradesh in the last seven years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of the airport on Thursday

The Noida international airport in Jewar, Greater Noida, will be Asia’s biggest aviation facility and generate employment for more than a hundred thousand people, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Wednesday, a day ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A worker installs a replica of an airplane as preparation are underway on the eve of the foundation stone laying ceremony of Jewar Airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Jewar airport will help in the development of the nation. It will be Asia’s biggest airport. It will also create employment opportunities for more than one lakh [100,000] people,” the minister told ANI.

“There were only two airports in Uttar Pradesh for the past 70 years, but now Jewar airport will be the 10th airport to be built in the state in the last seven years. Soon, we will see 17 airports in the state. Previously, only 25 destinations were covered, but now 80 destinations are covered,” Scindia said.

Senior officials privy to the development said the airport will have a capacity of 12 million passengers per annum (in the first phase), and will commence construction of its second phase by 2031-32.

The cost of the first phase development is ₹4,588 crore and the total cost of the project is pegged at ₹29,560 crore, senior officials said.

A total of 1,324 hectares have been acquired for the project in the first phase, and two runways will come up in the first phase. According to civil aviation ministry officials, flight operations are expected to commence from the greenfield airport by 2024. “Prime Minister is closely monitoring the airport’s development,” said Rajiv Bansal, secretary, ministry of civil aviation.

According to passenger demand, Jewar airport (also called Noida International airport), is expected to be built in four phases. After the second phase, the capacity of the airport is expected to go up to 30 million passengers per annum, the officials quoted above said.

In the third phase, work on which is expected to begin by 2036-2037, the estimated target capacity is 50 million passengers; and the after the fourth and final phase (by 2040), the aviation hub will be able to handle 70 million passengers per annum, the officials said.

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport is also being expanded, after which it will be able to handle 110 million passengers, Bansal said. Currently, Delhi airport’s capacity is 69 million passengers per annum.