However, growth of traffic may be slower than expected, as Indian airlines have heavily cut down their expansion due to high fuel prices. The airport will initially start with 12 flights per day but expects to scale up to around 40 daily flights by July.
IndiGo and Akasa will start flights on Monday and Tuesday.
However, Tata group airlines Air India and Air India Express are unlikely to launch flights from the airport soon as they have heavily reduced capacity.
“Airlines are of course cautious about the expansion. But we are building this airport for decades, not for the next 2-3 months,” said Christoph Schnellmann, vice-chairman of the airport. “During Covid, we saw traffic in India recovering faster than in many other parts of the world. So, we remain confident.”
While it was conceptualised as a second airport for Delhi, Noida airport starts when Delhi’s primary airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, is still expanding and planning to increase hourly aircraft movement from around 80 to 100.
Neetu Samra, CEO of Noida International Airport, said the new airport will be able to develop its own passenger base. “We are well connected to western UP, certain parts of Delhi NCR and some parts of Gurgaon. The catchment remains strong. A passenger now has more options,” she said.While airlines remain worried about the connectivity between the airport and major parts of Delhi, Schnellmann said the surface connectivity between the airports is adequate for the expected passenger traffic right now, and additional infrastructure is being built.
The UP government has approved ₹16,000 crore for a rapid rail corridor that will connect the Noida airport to IGIA along with other parts of Delhi.
“This will be incredibly important to increase surface transport. The rail network will have a stop directly in front of the terminal building of the airport,” Schnellmann said.