The 25 November launch of Noida International Airport is touted to be
a "game changer" in terms of scale and capacity, even as India declares
ambitious plan for 84 new airports by 2025.
The new airport covers 1,300 hectares and will feature two passenger terminals.
Construction will take place over four phases, expected to complete
some time between 2040-50. When phase one launches in 2024, it is
expected to handle some 12 million passengers, and 70 million annually
once fully operational.
Developed under a public-private partnership between Uttar Pradesh
and Zurich Airport International AG, this also means design elements
reflecting both local culture and Swiss efficiency. Think an airport
forecourt inspired by Varanasi's iconic ghats, and stretched glass fibre
fabric system used for the roof to shield people from harsh summer sun.
Plans also include planting 11,000 trees and a forest park, the
latter put together using trees from the project site — in line with the
new airport's plans to go green. Other initiatives include using
zero-emission fuels, solar power and sustainable aviation fuel.
The airport will also feature an integrated multi-modal cargo hub; a
first in India, and thereby boosting "commerce, connectivity and
tourism" wrote India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a 24 November
Twitter post.
"We are now waiting for the speedy construction of the airport, which
will set the benchmark for a digital, sustainable and
state-of-the-art-airport for the whole country,” said T S Dupare, CEO of
Indian Oil Skytanking Limited, the appointed designer and operator for
Noida Airport's fuel infrastructure.
India is targeting to have 220 airports by 2025. Photo Credit: Twitter/Narendra Modi
Airports are "great economic multipliers"
Noida International Airport will make Uttar Pradesh India's only
state with five international airports, and serve to de-congest Delhi's
Indira Gandhi International Airport. A planned link to Delhi-Varanasi
High-Speed Rail will also mean only 21 minutes to journey from Delhi to
Uttar Pradesh.
It will also support India's vision to boost aviation connectivity:
increasing the current count of 136 airports to 220 by 2025, inclusive
of heliport and water ports.
"If you look at what we have been able to achieve in the last 5-6
years from 2014-2019....the connectivity growth, civil aviation alone
has (grown) 89%, and that helped us in jumping from the seventh position
in terms of travel numbers to almost fourth position in 2019. And mind
you, we will be jumping to the number one position in the next decade or
so," the union minister told a virtual session of the Indian Chamber of
Commerce (ICC), according to a Business Standard report.
"Building a single airport acts as a great economic multiplier.
Connectivity has become the driver of growth. Civil aviation is in its
sunrise phase."