December start on the cards for Noida International Airport after several missed dates

Noida International Airport

Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar is likely to begin operations in December this year, following a recent airside security approval from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The approval is prerequisite for getting the aerodrome licence from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The project has missed several deadlines, the last being April 2025. The airport's opening is a crucial development for North India's aviation sector, especially with the start of the foggy season in late December.

Although no date has been yet specified, people familiar with the matter were quoted by The Time of India as saying: "NIA could be inaugurated sometime between the end of Nov to the first week of Dec. Operations at new airports typically begin four-six weeks after the inauguration."

An airport spokesperson said, "NIA is being developed with infrastructure and equipment supporting the CAT-III capability from the first phase, enabling safe and reliable aircraft operations even under low-visibility conditions. The process of calibration and regulatory approvals is currently in progress, following which CAT-III operations will be available."

DGCA certifies the instrument landing system as category-III, allowing landings under CAT-IIIA when the runway visibility range is 300 to 175 metres and under IIIB when the range is 175 to 50 metres. DGCA certifies a runway CAT-III compliant only after testing the systems well in advance.

For instance, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi has better visibility on its main runway 10/28 compared to the two near the Shivji statue, 29L/10R and 29R/10L, which are slightly away from the Delhi airport.

The Noida airport is in the middle of sprawling fields and the visibility in the winter will be an issue there until a concrete jungle replaces the farms, TOI reported. NIA will begin operations with domestic and cargo flights. Its capacity is supposed to grow from 1.2 crore passengers annually to 3 CPA by nearly doubling terminal 1.

Subsequently, a second runway and a second terminal, also to be developed in two phases, will see its capacity grow to 5 CPA and then to 7 CPA. As per the report, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning many more runways and terminals for the airport in the coming years. Delhi's IGIA has also seen addition of runways and terminals decades after the commercial flight operations were shifted in 1962 from the Safdarjung airport due to the growth in air traffic.