Key meet on Oct 1 to pick date for first commercial flight from Noida airport
NIAL said the final number of flights, along with specific international and domestic destinations, will be decided during the meeting on October 1, 2024
A site inspection of the Noida international greenfield airport in Jewar will take place on October 1, 2024, to decide the date when commercial flight operations could commence at the airport, said officials in the know of the matter on Monday.
The site inspection will be undertaken by the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), which is monitoring the progress of the airport, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), which is a special purpose vehicle formed to develop and operate Noida airport, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said officials.
After the site inspection on October 1, senior officials of these agencies will meet the same day and deliberate in detail before picking the date for commencement of commercial flight operations, said officials.
NIAL said the final number of flights, along with specific international and domestic destinations, will be decided during the meeting on October 1, 2024. The YIAPL has already signed agreements with IndiGo and Akasa Airlines to commence flights from the airport.
Earlier, NIAL and YIAPL had announced that the Noida airport is likely to start operations by next April but the exact date was yet to be finalised, keeping in view the progress on this mega project, said officials.
“We will discuss every technical and civil construction progress report in great detail and then finalise the airport’s flight schedule and the timelines to obtain necessary no objection certificates (NOCs), which are crucial before we begin commercial flight operations. The officials from all of these key departments must first check the progress at the site,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of the Yamuna authority and also chairman of NIAL.
The independent engineer overseeing the project will share the technical details about the project and the remaining regulatory clearances needed to pave the way for commercial operations to begin.
“The ministry of civil aviation wrote to us to decide the requisite timelines before commercial flight operations are started. The timelines cannot be finalised without having detailed deliberations with the officials from important bodies including the airport concessionaire YIAPL, DGCA and AAI,” said Singh.
“We have requested all these agencies to promptly submit the finalised and mutually agreed upon timelines for 14 crucial procedures such as the calibration of instrument landing system (ILS), flight trials, and the submission of documentation for aerodrome licensing,” Singh said.
The airport is likely to publish its aeronautical information publication (AIP) approximately 70 days before the start of commercial flights.
“We have sent the invitations to all key agencies, and the meeting will take place on October 1 at 11.30am. The DGCA and YIAPL will play critical roles to ensure timely application submissions for licensing and prompt responses. The meeting will determine the exact schedule for flight operations and the necessary preparations such as applying for the aeronautical information publication, which must be completed 70 days before operations,” said Singh.
YIAPL officials informed the NIAL last month that the runway is ready, with work is ongoing on runway markings and ground lighting. Calibration flights to check the instrument landing system are scheduled for September and October, followed by validation flights for approach and departure procedures in December 2024.
“After completion of these steps, YIAPL will apply for the aerodrome licence from DGCA, a mandatory certification required to initiate commercial operations. Once this certification is obtained, further procedures will be completed,” said Singh.