TBM Staff - Mumbai The first test flight from the Noida International Airport will likely take off as early as March 2024, months before its scheduled opening by end of next year, officials aware of developments have said.
Officials of the Union Home and Civil Aviation ministries held meetings with the Uttar Pradesh government last week to discuss the road map of the new airport, which is expected to decongest the national Capital’s airport and provide new connectivity options for parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the officials cited above said.
“The airport is currently undergoing runway layering work and will begin installation of air navigation services from December,” one of the officials said, asking not to be named, reports Neha Tripathi for HT. “The airside of the airport would be ready in March, post which a test flight can be operated.”
“The meeting was held to discuss the immigration and security related developments. Even though a formal order is yet to be issued, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be guarding the airport,” a second officer at the Union home ministry said on the condition of anonymity, citing the discussions on July 21.
The airport is being built at Jewar in Gautam Budh Nagar district. The airport operator has said the airport will become fully operational by the end of 2024, with one terminal building and one runway and a passenger handling capacity of 12 million per year.
