By Vijay Grover
Zurich Airport International, which bagged the Noida International Airport, an international airport being constructed near the town of Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, is excited about ensuring that the airport will be operational by 2024. Christoph Schnellmann, CEO Noida International Airport exclusively told IADB, “For us, the project is about two years old, since when we one the rights. For the last two years, we have been busy designing the airport and designing the engineering and infrastructure, and we managed to get the funding. We now have the end of 2024 to make it operational.”
While initially, the airport will be designed and able to handle 12 million passengers with a single runway and terminal building and all ancillary roads and utilities. However, the airport will see expansion with an additional runway and will be designed to handle 70 million passengers during the 40 years concession that it has been given.
“Uttar Pradesh government is already acquiring land to the south and north of the airport project for future development projects” shares Christoph, highlighting the Uttar Pradesh government’s commitment to the Noida International Airport becoming a key economic hub in the region.
Flughafen Zürich AG, the Operator of Zurich Airport, won the bid to Build and Operate the Airport for 40 years with a concession period starting Oct 2021. The Noida International Airport is located 72 kilometres from Indira Gandhi International Airport, the airport that currently serves the needs of the entire National Capital Region. Christoph is confident that the rapid growth of the aviation sector will help Jewar airport play a key role in supporting the existing airport in Delhi and not compete with it. “We also expect traffic in Delhi NCR to triple, and we are convinced that the Delhi NCR, especially Western UP, need an additional airport,” says Christoph.
Flughafen Zurich, which had initially designed and built the Bengaluru International Airport, feels that its experience of having worked in Bengaluru will undoubtedly be an advantage. Christoph says that while it’s different from Bengaluru, it brought value to shareholders, making his team more confident. “We bring the experience of Switzerland’s largest airport and the eight airports in Latin America. It is a project which is a fusion of Indian hospitality and Swiss efficiency and technology. We will bring the best of both worlds to Noida at a much more affordable price.” Says Christoph.
Zurich Airports had pipped three other competitive bidders earlier, especially the GMR Group-led consortium comprising Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). Reports suggest that while Zurich Airport offered a revenue share of ₹400.97 per passenger, GMR Group-led DIAL, which had the right of first refusal, offered ₹351. The Adani Group and Anchorage’s bid ₹360 and ₹205 per passenger, respectively.
Zurich Airports will invest 650 million Swiss francs ( ₹4,663.731 crores) for the first phase. The connectivity of the airport and its access for prospective passengers to prefer it are areas which are being given attention even as the work on the airport continues. The issue seems to be getting attention with access to the Expressway and plans afoot on the metro connectivity. “The NHAI are at work designing the interchange from the Expressway. There is a highway planned from the airport to Gurugram in less than an hour. Metro connectivity from Delhi and Noida will help people,” says Christoph.
The airport could emerge as a Gateway to reach Agra, Mathura, and Vrindavan and help domestic and international tourists directly skip Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had laid the foundation stone of Noida Airport, is reportedly keen to see Zurich Airports go ahead and work to meet deadlines for Phase I of the project in 2024. The government is already talking about making Noida Airport the biggest in Asia with six runways once all its expansions are completed; when it says Noida Airport, it will be India’s and Asia’s largest airport and will be the fourth-largest airport in the world.
