The Noida International Airport (NIA) at Jewar will be inaugurated on March 28, 2026, as per Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu. This comes with a delay of two years with the airport having plans to start operations in 2024 and having repeatedly said no in the past. In 2019, Flughafen Zürich AG, the operator of Zurich Airport in Switzerland, won the bid to build and operate it for 40 years. Tata Projects Limited was awarded the civil construction tender. In 2023, IATA assigned the airport’s code as ‘DXN’.
Commercial flights will have to wait
Commercial operations are unlikely to begin immediately, much like how it happened with Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). On October 08, NMIA was inaugurated while commercial flights started on December 25, last year. The official NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) for the airport says that “Noida International Airport is not available for operations until 0529 hours local time, April 16, 2026 as per the latest NOTAM.|
A0653/26 NOTAMN Q) VIDF/QFALC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/2811N07736E005
A) VIND
B) 2603201340
C) 2604152359
E) AD NOT AVBL FOR OPS.
The airport is planned in multi phases and will include a multi-modal cargo hub. In its first phase, featuring a single runway and terminal, it will handle around 12 million passengers annually. Once all phases are completed, the capacity is expected to increase to 70 million passengers per year. NIA, Jewar will be compared with NMIA though in case of NMIA, it eases the capacity crunch at Mumbai, while NIA will offer new capacity for Delhi NCR. Between the time that construction started at Jewar and when it becomes operational, Delhi region has another airport in the form of Hindon which was opened up as a short term solution but has continued to operate beyond the planned timeline. Delhi’s main airport, IGIA also has higher capacity now than what it had pre-pandemic.
Network Thoughts
NIA, Jewar is located very far from most of NCR residents. However, in the longer run the airport will have a dedicated metro line, access to express highway which will change the landscape. How soon that happens will give a glimpse of how many airlines sign up and how fast they expand. IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air are likely to start operations with the second half of the year seeing international operations too.
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