Trial runs to begin by June-end at Noida airport in Jewar: NIAL

The Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), the agency overseeing the construction of the greenfield Noida international airport in Jewar, has said on Tuesday that trial runs at the airport is expected to start by end of June as around 80% work on phase one of the project is complete.

NIAL has apprised the Uttar Pradesh government, in a meeting held last week, that the runway has been completed and overall, 80% of the work on the project is now over, said officials familiar with the matter on Tuesday.

“We have informed the Uttar Pradesh government that the other required facilities, including technical equipment, will be installed in the next three months or so. We aim to start trial runs on the runway either by June-end or July beginning. Our target is to start flight operations at the airport by end-September 2024,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, NIAL.

NIAL has also informed the state government that at least ₹7371 .51 crore, of the ₹10,056 crore budget, has been spent on the greenfield airport so far.

Flight-related equipment will be installed on the runway and at the air traffic control (ATC) tower in April 2024 as most of the civil work on the ATC is complete and finishing touches are underway, said officials of NIAL.

The state government has asked local agencies, including NIAL and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida), to build a Metro line for providing connectivity to and from Noida airport to the rest of Delhi/National Capital Region (NCR).

To that end, Yeida has already enlisted the help of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to prepare a detailed project report so that a feasibility study can be carried out, officials said.

Apart from the Metro and the road connectivity, the state is also exploring the option of building a pod taxi system and a rapid rail corridor to link the airport with the rest of NCR, said officials.