Under the development agreement, Noida Airport will initially have a runway and about 90 percent of air traffic in the initial years will be domestic only, a senior Zurich International Airport official said, according to the PTI news agency.
Here are 10 updates on the upcoming Noida International Airport:
1) “Obviously we will work with local construction partners to build it (Noida airport) but we will be the main investor at this time,” Daniel Bircher, executive director of Zurich International Airport (Asia) told PTI in an interview. He said the company could get another financial investor at a later stage to further develop the airport.
2) “As a strategic objective, we are looking to build an airport platform in India in the medium term. So it could be that we join a financial investor at a later stage to make this platform (Noida airport) grow. At this stage from the development phase (of Noida airport), we will do it ourselves, “he added.
3) Zurich International Airport currently has a 100 percent stake in the Noida Airport project. It had outbid Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Adani Enterprises and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited to win the 40-year concession for Noida Airport. The DIAL led by the GMR group operates the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi.
4) “What we know today is that Delhi Airport (IGIA) has natural limitations in peak hours, so airlines that want to operate during peak hours will find ways to operate. Therefore, there will be a change in these. airlines, “Bircher told PTI.
“So the same airline will also use the airport to make international flights? That is the airline’s decision. I don’t see this airport (Noida) being the competition for international traffic at the existing airport (IGIA). That will not change due to some time, “he added.
5) When asked if the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has changed his air traffic projections at Noida airport, Bircher said: “Today there is an impact (due to the pandemic) but we are very confident that India has a market so great internal … he will recover very strongly, as we have seen in 2011-12 “.
6) In the last 5-6 years, a growth rate of more than 20 percent has been observed for some airports in India, so no substantial changes are seen in the traffic projections, he added.
Bircher told PTI: “Domestic travel, I have no doubt, will pick up very quickly. Given that we are going to have 90 percent domestic traffic in the first few years … I think our assumption is still true.”
7) When asked if the government had informed the company by when the construction of the metro, which connects the airport to the wider region of Delhi, will take place, he replied: “We understand that planning has been completed and the government is looking to start the execution soon to take it to the airport when we go into operation. “
Noida Airport is about 70 km from the main Delhi region.
He said the company has a total of three and a half years to build the Noida airport.
8) “We have three and a half years, so we have six months to do the financial closing, and then the concession begins and we have three years to build the airport,” said Bircher.
He said they were working hard now in the planning stage.
“We are looking ₹4.5 billion rupees investment for the first phase. This is in an area of 1,334 hectares of land that has been given for development. This includes a runway, apron space, this includes 12 boarding bridges for the terminal, and it also includes space for cargo catering, “he said.
He said that in the planning stage they were focusing on digitization to provide contactless services to passengers.
“We are focusing on short connection times … We want to make it easier for the passenger to connect (for the other flight) and also for the airline to reduce the time the aircraft is on the ground to reduce the cost of the airline.” Bircher said.
9) Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) is a 100% subsidiary of Zurich International Airport, which has been incorporated to develop the new Noida Airport in Jewar.
YIAPL will implement the Public Private Partnership (PPP) for the Noida Airport project together with the Uttar Pradesh government, the New Delhi Okhla Industrial Development Authority and the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority.
10) Bircher said, “We see good potential in developing this airport into a logistics center with all the adjacent logistics development and projects planned. It also includes 74 hectares of city area that can be developed.”
“We will take this in a phased approach, initially it will most likely be a hotel and the rest we are still studying. This also includes a metro station on our land,” he added.
The agreement Noida International Airport Limited and Zurich Airport International AG:
The ‘concession agreement’ of Noida International Airport Limited and Zurich Airport International AG would allow the Swiss-based company to build and maintain the airport which is being built on the public-private partnership (PPP) model and which is billed as the largest in India. at the end, said NIAL’s Nodal officer for Jewar airport Shailendra Bhatia, according to the PTI news agency.
The deal was supposed to be signed on July 2 according to the previous schedule. However, on June 10, the UP government postponed the signing date of the agreement until August 17 due to the pandemic. Later, in August, the company had until October 15 to sign due to restrictions on air travel.
On November 29 last year, the Swiss company Zurich Airport emerged as the highest bidder to develop the Jewar airport, beating out competitors such as Adani Enterprises, DIAL and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holding.
The project will cover 5,000 hectares. When completed, the airport, which will be the third in the national capital region after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and Ghaziabad’s Hindon Airport, is likely to have six to eight runways, mostly in India, according to reports. officials.
Work is underway for the first phase of the airport, which is expected to be completed in 2023.
.
