NEW DELHI: The country’s newest airline- Akasa Air and the upcoming Noida International Airport (NIA) on Friday entered a strategic partnership, wherein the airline would base its aircraft at the airport to operate domestic and international flights.
With this agreement, Akasa Air, which on Thursday placed a firm order for 150 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, has become the second carrier to sign up for operations from the NIA. India’s largest carrier IndiGo had inked an agreement with the airport in November last year to become its launch carrier.
“This partnership highlights our commitment to strengthen air connectivity in the Delhi NCR region and Western Uttar Pradesh,” said Christoph Schnellmann, Chief Executive Officer, of Noida International Airport. The second airport in the new National Capital Region (NCR) region, NIA is eyeing to start operations before the end of 2024.
The first phase of the airport, with one runway, and one terminal will have the capacity to handle traffic of 12 million passengers annually. After the completion of the fourth phase, NIA will have the capacity to manage 70 million passengers per year.
Located in Jewar (Uttar Pradesh) and built with an investment of over $2 billion, NIA is expected to support high demand for air traffic from the NCR region. In 2023, GMR Group run country’s largest airport - Delhi International Airport- handled over 72 million passengers and it expects to reach the 100 million mark in the next three-four years.
Recently speaking to this newspaper, Videh Jaipuriar, CEO of Delhi International Airport (DIAL), said that the two airports have a very big market to cater to.
“It will be the choice of the passengers and also for the airlines as to where is the better connectivity and convenience. Personally, I don’t see a major impact on revenue, finances or traffic from the upcoming airport. There is enough and more business for one more airport to survive,” said Jaipuriar.