Noida International Airport to be inaugurated on THIS date, to connect 10 cities; check details

The Noida International Airport (NIA) is set to be inaugurated on October 30, with flight operations projected to begin 45 days thereafter, Union Civil Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said on Wednesday.

He also stated that at least 10 cities will be connected in the first phase of the Jewar airport, adding that metros such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata will be among the first to be linked to the airport. However, international operations are planned for later.

The greenfield airport, located in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, some 75 km from Delhi, will be the second international airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Speaking at an event at the Hindon airport in neighbouring Ghaziabad, the minister said: “We are trying to push up the 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.”

Naidu further stated, “...the airlines are very much excited to operate from the Jewar airport, also they feel that there is huge potential in that area.”

The airport is in discussions with the airlines, he added.

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.

In the first phase, the airport will have a capacity to serve approximately 1.2 crore passengers per year, with expansion plans aiming to accommodate 7 crore passengers annually. The development of the initial phase cost more than ₹10,500 crore.

Furthermore, with the Noida Metro Rail Corporation set to extend the Golden Line, NIA will be directly connected to Indira Gandhi International Airport.

It will be India’s first airport with an integrated multimodal cargo hub, which will help reduce the total cost and time for logistics. It will have a dedicated cargo terminal with a capacity of 20 lakh metric tonne, which will be expanded to 80 lakh metric tonne.

Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a Zurich Airport International AG subsidiary, is the concessionaire of the project.