Delhi’s 2nd airport to come up in Noida

Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Saturday announced in-principle approval for a greenfield Noida International Airport at Jewar in Greater Noida .

The new airport with one runway in the first phase will be operational within the next four to five years, the minister said. The government gave a push for this airport as the Yogi Adityanath government sought its urgent consideration soon after assuming office.

The minister said the Jewar airport, 72 km from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, will cater to the increasing traffic in the national capital region (NCR). There was, however, no word on the Bhiwadi airport, 70 km from Delhi, that was given the site clearance as the second airport in the capital region on November 18, 2015. The site was given to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (DMICDC) to develop it.

Bhiwadi airport, however, appears to have been shelved as Raju talked of the urgent need for a second airport for Delhi in the next 7-10 years while announcing clearance to the Jewar airport at a press conference here. He pointed out that the fast growing traffic at the IGI airport will hit its saturation point of 109 million passengers per annum (MPPA) by 2024. The IGI airport currently handles 62 MPPA.

The metro connectivity already provided to IGI airport is being extended to Jewar and so the new airport would have multi-connectivity by road and rail.

The minister said the Uttar Pradesh government had submitted a proposal for the new airport at Jewar and his ministry has accorded the inprinciple approval, based on recommendations of the steering committee on greenfield airports headed by the civil aviation secretary.

The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), a UP government enterprise, has been designated to implement the project in an area of 3000 hectares already notified for the airport to be developed in phases.