Finally, the wait is over! On June 15, 2026, Noida International Airport Ltd (NIAL) officially began commercial operations, marking a historic milestone for the National Capital Region and western Uttar Pradesh. The first scheduled flight was operated by IndiGo, arriving from Lucknow, ushering in a new chapter for air connectivity in the region. India‘s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the construction of the NIAL at a very well-attended foundation stone laying ceremony on November 25, 2021.
The first phase of the airport now handles 12 million passengers annually and includes a runway, an integrated terminal, and an air traffic control tower. Spread across about 1,334 hectares, the airport is planned in four phases. Once fully developed, it is expected to have six runways and a passenger handling capacity of up to 225 million travellers every year.
09 December 2024 Validation Flight
An IndiGo test flight travelled from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) to NIAL and completed the final security-related analysis for the facility. Officials said that the flight was carried out under close coordination between the pilots and the air traffic controller (ATC). There were no passengers on board as it landed on the 3.9-kilometre runway just past noon. Earlier, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had given flight and security approvals. Technically, the airport was thus fully readied for commercial operations.
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The Airports Authority of India (AAI) oversaw the exercise, and all collected data was soon submitted to the DGCA for review. Supervising staff included officials from the DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), NIAL, and the UP Civil Aviation Department. The test assessed systems such as airspace coordination, communication protocols, emergency response readiness, and runway performance. Earlier milestones included the successful calibration of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) in October 2024.
Greenfield Airport
This green-field airport is now the largest in the country. It is about 72 km from Delhi’s IGIA, which till now was the only other international airport in the national capital region, and has reached its peak. Uttar Pradesh is the largest state of India by population and currently has 15 operational civil airports. The airport has been developed through a public-private partnership model (PPP). It is now owned by NIAL and operated by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Zurich Airport AG. In June 2022, Tata Projects was awarded the construction tender for the airport, which aims to be India’s first net-zero-emissions airport.
Airport Location
In addition to the NCR, the airport now serves many UP towns. It is 48 km from Greater Noida; 60 km from Noida; 70 km from Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Mathura; about 65 km from Aligarh and Gurgaon; and 130 km from Agra. It is now connected to the Yamuna Expressway, allowing domestic and international tourists to reach Agra, Mathura, and Vrindavan. It is now a boon for first-time homebuyers in Greater Noida.
Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) had identified 13,000 acres for the project. 3,280 acres were acquired in the first phase for the construction of terminal buildings and runways.
Under the National Capital Region Transport Plan, the Hisar Airport, which is 190 km Northwest of IGIA & 270 km Northwest of Noida International Airport (NIA), is being developed as an alternate to the IGI Airport. The dual-use Indian Air Force (IAF) airport at Hindon is now the nearest diversionary runway.
Initial Conceptualisation
The project was first proposed in 2001 by then Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Rajnath Singh as a green-field airport, rt Taj International and Aviation Hub (TIAH) at Jewar village. The Central government cleared the techno-feasibility report for setting up TIAH in April 2003. It was to be built by the year 2007–2008. The project was put on hold during the UPA regime because the project site was within 150 km of the existing green-field IGIA in Delhi. The IGIA operator, GMR Group, had protested against plans, claiming that it would impact traffic and revenue generation. GMR Group also had the right of first refusal (RoFR) on any new airport within 150 km of IGIA. The RoFR would give GMR preference in bidding in case its bid price was to be within 10 per cent of the lowest bidder.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led government in UP in 2012 contemplated shelving the project and proposed a new international airport in Agra. In June 2013, the State Government finalised a site in the Firozabad district as the site for the proposed airport. However, in January 2014, the Ministry of Defence raised some objections regarding the site. Then, in November 2014, the state government allocated land near Etmadpur, east of Agra. However, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at the centre, the project was again shifted back to Jewar.
The Ministry Clearances
The civil aviation ministry cleared the proposal for the new airport to be set up on 2,200 acres in June 2015. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) cleared the project in June 2016. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) gave an in-principle approval to the UP government to build the airport in May 2018. Meanwhile, the UP government had to expedite the planning process as the Haryana government was pushing for a similar airport at Hisar.
Land Acquisition and Project Go Ahead
In November 2018, the UP Government approved funds for land acquisition. By September 2019, 1,750 acres of land had been acquired. In November 2019, contracts went to Zurich Airport AG for developing and operating the airport for 40 years. By January 2020, 3,300 acres had been acquired. In October 2020, the final agreement was signed between NIAL and Zurich Airport International AG. In February 2021, the master plan for the airport gained clearance from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). In September 2021, the Central Government approved the master plan for the airport. The airport will be implemented in four phases.
Cargo Terminal
For the first time, an airport in India has been conceptualised with an integrated multi-modal cargo hub, with a focus on reducing the total cost and time for logistics. The cargo terminal now has a capacity of 20 lakh metric tons, which can be expanded to 80 lakh metric tons. The airport now facilitates “seamless movement of industrial products” and helps boost industrial growth in the region. PM Narendra Modi had said that the airport would be north India‘s “Logistics Gateway”, and would help the state become an export centre whereby even MSMEs would have easier access to overseas markets.
Road Connectivity
Connectivity is being handled by a multi-modal transit hub with metro and high-speed rail, as well as taxi and bus services. It is also proposed to be connected with driverless pod taxis or personal rapid transit (PRT) from the amusement park included in the proposed film city project, located in Greater Noida. It is now connected to all major nearby roads and highways like the Yamuna Expressway, Western Peripheral Expressway, Eastern Peripheral Expressway, KGP Expressway, and Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
Metro and Rail Connectivity
The airport is proposed to be connected to Noida Metro via the Greater Noida route, and the Delhi Metro via the Faridabad–Ballabhgarh–Palwal–Jewar route.
The 71-kilometre “Ghaziabad-Jewar RRTS”, a rapid rail with 11 stations, will be completed in 2 phases by 2031. The 61-kilometre ”Palwal-Noida International Airport-Khurja Railway” will have a new railway station at Noida airport, which will be connected to Palwal on the New Delhi-Mumbai main line and Khurja on the Amritsar-Kolkata line.
It will connect to Hisar Airport through “Hisar Airport-NIA-Railway line” (HANAR) at Palwal. It will be directly connected with IGIA via Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor (HORC) and “Delhi-Jaipur line.” It will have a station on the High-Speed Railway (HSR) proposed Delhi-Varanasi HSR corridor, enabling the journey between Delhi and the airport in only 21 minutes.
Among the World’s Largest Airports
With six runways once fully completed, it will be India’s largest airport and among the world’s largest airports. The Chicago–O’Hare and the Dallas/Fort Worth airports are larger, with eight and seven runways, respectively. Other existing airports with six runways are Amsterdam, Detroit, Boston, and Denver. As of September 2019, with four runways, the Indira Gandhi International Airport had the highest number of runways of any airport in India. Since 2019, there has been a proposal for two additional runways for Jewar to bring the total to eight runways once completed. This is being done keeping future expansion in mind,d and subject to the availability of land. Such a proposal has been given the green signal by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Airport Cost and Passenger Handling Capacity
To begin with, the airport is spread over more than 1300 hectares of land. The first phase has cost around ₹10,050 crore, and created a capacity to serve around 12 million passengers per annum (MPPA). The proposed plan was to initially build the two runways, and at a future date, to expand it into a 7,200-acre (2,900 ha) six-runway airport. Phase I targeted 12 MPPA and cost ₹4,588 crore. This will be completed around the end of 2027. Phase II will handle 30 MPPA, cost ₹5,983 crore, and be operational around 2031. Phase III will handle 50 MPPA, cost ₹8,415 crore, and be operational by 2036. Phase IV will handle 70 MPPA, cost ₹10,575 crore, by 2040. The costs are tentative.
Swing Aircraft Stand Concept
The airport has introduced a swing aircraft stand concept, providing flexibility for airlines to operate an aircraft for both domestic and international flights from the same contact stand, without having to re-position the aircraft. This thus ensures quick and efficient aircraft turnarounds at the airport while ensuring a smooth and seamless passenger transfer process.
Operational Plans
The airport was awarded the IATA code “DXN” in September 2023. In July 2023, they selected SITA’s airport management system for efficient operations and to boost collaborative decision-making. YIAPL signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with IndiGo as its launch carrier in November 2023, and Akasa Air was added to the list in January 2024. In April 2024, the airport held its first calibration test flight of the Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) equipment on the runway. In February 2024, BPCL was tasked to construct an ATF pipeline from Piyala to Noida International Airport. In April 2024, Bird Group was selected for ground handling services. In October 2024, they completed the calibration of the Instrument Landing System (ILS).
The airport has a runway designated 10/28 measuring 3,900 by 45 metres, supported by an instrument landing system and aeronautical ground lighting for 24-hour operations. The phase 1 passenger terminal (T1) has an area of 101,590 square metres, with 28 apron stands. By October 2025, the runway, air traffic control tower, boarding bridges, e-gates, baggage handling systems, and security scanners had been installed, while major work,s including taxiways, internal roads, firefighting systems, fuel ffacilitieses and securitinfrastructurect, and security infrastructure, was complete.
The airport includes a dedicated cargo component and is being developed with a multi-modal cargo hub. The hub is designed to handle over 250,000 metric tonnes annually in its initial phase and is expandable to around 1.8 million metric tonnes.
The airport has a 40-acre aircraft maintenance facility. In March 2026, Akasa Air announced plans to establish its first maintenance, repair,pair and overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport. The airport operator describes the project as aiming for carbon net-zero operations through energy-efficient systems and environmentally responsible practices.
Government’s Way Ahead Vision for the Airport
Now operational, this has become UP’s fifth international airport – the most for any state. Other international airports are in Lucknow, Varanasi, Kushinagar (a Buddhist pilgrimage site), and in the temple town of Ayodhya, which is being converted into a tourist hub. While laying the foundation stone, PM Narendra Modi had said that this project would significantly boost commerce, connectivity, and tourism.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that the initial investment of ₹10,000 crore would go up to ₹35,000 crore once the airport was fully built. The airport is now Asia’s largest and generates employment opportunities for more than one lakh people. It is a part of PM Narendra Modi’s vision of creating a “future-ready aviation sector”.
The design of the airport focuses on the convenience of passengers. Processes at the airport are now digitally enabled. Billed as India‘s first “net-zero emissions” airport, the government has set aside land for a forest. “We are making sure that the projects do not get stuck, do not keep hanging…we try to ensure that the infrastructure work is completed within the stipulated time,” PM Narendra Modi had said.
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