Noida International Airport to be inaugurated on October 30: Civil Aviation Minister Naidu

Noida: The Noida International Airport will be inaugurated on October 30, and flight operations are expected to start 45 days thereafter, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has said.

The greenfield airport is located in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, some 75 km from Delhi.

This will be the second international airport in the national capital region (NCR) after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

"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," the minister told reporters during an event at the Hindon airport in neighbouring Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

Naidu further said, "...the airlines are very much excited to operate from the Jewar airport, also they feel that there is huge potential in that area. So I can see that at least 10 cities will be connected in the first phase from Jewar airport, as seen in discussions that are happening with the airlines".

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.