Watch: First test flight lands at Noida airport

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The Noida International Airport successfully conducted the first flight validation test today, paving the way for the authorities to begin its operations next year.


An IndiGo plane took off from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport with only crew members and landed on the runway after necessary security checks.


The airport is located in Jewar in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar district and aims to start operations in April next year. It will become the second major airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) after the IGI airport.


"This was a prestigious project. Today the landing of the plane was a great achievement," Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said.


Noida International Airport CEO Christoph Schnellmann thanked the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Airports Authority of India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh Government.


"We completed the work in record time together," he said.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Jewar Airport in November 2021.


The airport is being developed by the Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a subsidiary of Swiss firm Zurich Airport International AG, in association with the Noida International Airport Limited, which is the implementing agency on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government.


The total area of the project is 1,334 hectares and, in its first phase, 1.2 crore passengers are expected to use the airport every year. The number is projected to increase to 3 crore by the end of the decade and 7 crore a few years after that.


One runway will be operational initially and, when it opens, the terminal will have 10 aerobridges and three bus gates. There will eventually be two operational runways and while the airport will have 28 spots for aircraft in the apron area initially, this will expand to 200 as the flights and passenger count increase.


The airport is connected to Greater Noida, Noida and Delhi via the signal-free Yamuna Expressway.


It has been planned as a gateway to tourist destinations in North India, including the Taj Mahal, and for Hindu pilgrimages like the Chardham Yatra, Kumbh Mela, Mathura and Vrindavan as well as the Buddhist circuit of Sravasti, Kapilavastu and Kushinagar.