By the end of 2024, the construction of the future Noida International Airport (NIA) would be complete and on schedule. According to a senior project officer, the project is staying within the approved budget. The Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, in the Jewar area, is home to the new greenfield airport, which will be located approximately 75 kilometres from Delhi. The concession contract for the 40-year construction, design, and operation of the airport was awarded to Zurich International Airport AG (ZIAA), a company located in Switzerland.


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The NIA is a public-private partnership project of the Uttar Pradesh government, with the Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a fully-owned subsidiary of the ZIAA, being its implementing agency.


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"We are on schedule to deliver the project as per the terms and conditions of the concession agreement," Christoph Schnellmann, the chief executive officer of the YIAPL, told a press conference in Greater Noida.


The NIA will be developed in four phases, after which it would have an annual passenger capacity of seven crore and two terminal buildings spread over five lakh square metres. Work is currently underway for the project's first phase, which is scheduled to be completed by September 2024 with one terminal building spread over one lakh square metres and a passenger capacity of 1.2 crores per year.


Responding to a PTI query on any cost overrun in the mega project considering COVID-19 and inflation, Schnellmann said, "We have secured a funding of Rs 5,730 crore, and we expect to deliver the airport within the funding that has been sanctioned."


On the operational sustainability and success of the project, the chief operations officer of the NIA, Kiran Jain, said the population in the National Capital Region (NCR) is huge. Hence, there is a need for a second international airport here.


She said their discussions with the airlines, the cargo operators, along with the maintenance, repair, and overhaul firms for the work at the NIA have been "incredibly positive." "In terms of our relationships with the airlines, our conversations with the MROs, the cargo freight operators, or the multi-modal cargo hub developers, I can tell you that our discussions are incredibly positive. There is a great belief in what we are doing and in need of having another airport for this very busy catchment," Jain said.