Noida airport may take another month for inauguration, say officials

The greenfield airport was targeted to be inaugurated by the month-end, but officials have confirmed that the airport is under the process of receiving various approvals

New Delh/Greater Noida

Yogi Adityanath undertakes a site review on Saturday. (CM Office, GoUP X)

The much awaited Noida International airport (NIA) may take another at least a month before it gets inaugurated, senior officials privy to the development said on Saturday. The greenfield airport was targeted to be inaugurated by the month-end, but officials have confirmed that the airport is under the process of receiving various approvals.

“The greenfield airport is awaiting certain security clearances and hence it will take some more time to be inaugurated,” one of the officials said. “A lot of clearances are required before any airport is open for passenger movements. Many times, it involves more than one ministry, leading to a delay in the procedure.”

A second official said, “Apart from others, a few permissions from the home affairs ministry are pending. Once all the permissions are in place, there will be a final round of inspection.”

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday reviewed the work at the site and directed the concessionaire to complete the job as soon as possible.

“The chief minister carried out a detailed site inspection, and reviewed the project with all the departments involved in the project. The date for the inauguration will be finalised soon, and we have given the timelines to the concessionaire to complete the civil work and also obtain requisite approvals well in advance for the mega event,” said RK Singh, chief executive officer of the Noida International Private Limited (NIAL), a state government agency formed to oversee the work.

In September, the Noida airport received the crucial security clearance from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) for its airside infrastructure, a significant step towards operational readiness. The next major milestone is the issuance of the aerodrome licence by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it is likely to be issued on October 27, NIAL officials said.

The Noida International Airport in Jewar is built across 3,300 acres in its first phase, and is nearing its completion. A total of 6,700 acres have been acquired for the project, while another 5,100 acres are slated to be secured within the next three months.

“The aim is to decide and finalise flight schedules before the inauguration so that aircraft operations can commence immediately after. After all this is done, the inauguration may take four to six weeks,” the second official cited above said.

A third official said that the date will be decided as per the availability of the Prime Minister. “While nothing is fixed at the moment, it appears that NIA can be inaugurated by November-end or early December.”

When operations begin, the airport will start with a single runway capable of managing around 150 flights daily and accommodating up to 12 million passengers a year. Once annual passenger number crosses the 10 million mark, work on a second runway will begin, which will allow the airport to handle 70 million passengers annually.

At its planned full capacity, the Jewar airport will expand to five runways over an area of 11,750 acres, positioning it among the world’s largest airports with the ability to serve nearly 300 million passengers per year.