Noida International Airport: 47 Per Cent Work Done, On Track For First Flight Take Off By September 2024

The construction work on the first phase of the Noida International Airport (NIA) at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, is nearly 47 per cent complete.

This was communicated by the Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) which is overseeing the construction during its 16th board meeting held in Lucknow on Thursday (15 June).

The board meeting, chaired by Uttar Pradesh chief secretary DS Mishra, focused on discussing and approving important agendas related to the airport’s development.

Construction Progress

Tata Projects, which is the contractor for the project has been carrying out the construction of the terminal building, runway and 38-metre air traffic control (ATC).  

At least 30 per cent of the work on the terminal building, ATC tower, and runway has been completed, with the remaining work progressing rapidly at the site.

The construction marked a milestone on 16 January this year with a "mega pour" of 1,800 cubic metres of concrete and 350 tonnes of cement in 20 hours.

The Jewar airport is understood to be the "most important" project of the state government and is being personally monitored by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Adityanath, during his inspection of the airport site in September 2022 had asked the project developers to speed up the airport work, by increasing the number of staff and machines, so that the project is completed by early 2024 and the first flight scheduled for September 2024 takes off on time. Accordingly, the number of machinery and workforce has been increased at the airport site.

To put entire effort in perspective, a total of over 6 million construction man-hours have already been clocked without injury till date on building the airport, deemed to be India’s largest airport upon completion.

NIA To Be Ready By 2024

NIA is the upcoming greenfield airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. It will enhance domestic as well as international connectivity to and from Delhi-National Capital region (NCR), Noida and Western Uttar Pradesh.

The NCR's second international airport will be developed in four phases, with two interconnected terminals and an annual passenger capacity of 70 million.

The first phase spread over 1,334 hectares will have a 3,900-metre runway with a capacity for 28 aircraft stands, cargo hub along with a passenger terminal spanning an area of 100,000 square metres that will cater to domestic and international passengers.

As per the concession agreement, the first phase for 12 million passengers per annum is to be completed and made operational by September 2024.

The Noida airport is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, in partnership with the state government.

Zurich Airport International AG won the bid to develop Noida International Airport in 2019 and the concession period officially commenced from 01 October 2021.

Following the ground-breaking ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, the first phase of the airport is expected to become operational before its scheduled deadline of 29 September 2024.

Expansion Plans

The first expansion of the airport — construction of the second runway and the terminal building — will start once it reaches 80 per cent of the 12 million passengers per year capacity.

Similarly, the development of the third, fourth and fifth runways will begin when footfall increases from 12 million to 30 million, 50 million and 70 million, respectively.