New Delhi: The ambitious Noida International Airport at Jewar is all set to launch on 15 June, but a survey of Delhi-NCR flyers finds a clear preference for Indira Gandhi International Airport at the national capital over the Noida airport.
The survey by LocalCircles, a community platform, involved about 19,000 regular flyers, who expressed reluctance toward Jewar airport, which boasts of aesthetic infrastructure, state-of-the-art security, and world-class runways. Around 95 per cent of those surveyed chose the Delhi airport, mainly over concerns such as higher fares and longer travel time to Jewar, which is around 78 kilometres from Connought Place.
Of the 95 per cent who expressed apprehension, 58 per cent cited both lower fares and proximity as key reasons, while 32 per cent prioritised proximity alone and 5 per cent pointed to lower fares only.
Built under a public-private partnership at an estimated cost of around Rs 11,200 crore, the first phase of the airport is expected to handle roughly 12 million passengers annually, with long-term expansion plans that could eventually scale up to 70 million passengers per year.
The Narendra Modi government has pitched the Noida International Airport as a transformational project that will bring a structural shift in regional aviation. CEO Christoph Schnellmann said that the project has combined ‘Swiss efficiency and Indian hospitality’.
‘Today, Noida is ready to welcome the world. This entire region reflects and strengthens the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” said PM Modi at the inauguration of the airport on 28 March.
The airport aims to reduce pressure on Indira Gandhi International Airport and to turn Jewar into a new hub for passenger and cargo movement across western Uttar Pradesh and the wider NCR region.
The airport is also expected to generate jobs, attract logistics investment, and connect cities like Agra, Mathura, Meerut, and Ghaziabad more directly to global air routes.
However, the idea is yet to set foot.
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Delhi’s IGI vs Noida’s Jewar
Alongside passenger concerns, IndiGo and Air India, in their submissions to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), objected to the proposed aeronautical charges at Noida airport, arguing that they are substantially higher than those at Delhi airport.
According to IndiGo, the proposed aeronautical charges at Jewar are significantly higher than those at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The airline said domestic landing charges at Jewar are estimated to be 119 per cent higher than at Delhi airport, while the proposed domestic User Development Fee (UDF) is over four times higher.
IndiGo also pointed to the higher parking costs, noting that parking an Airbus A321 aircraft with a 97-metric-tonne maximum take-off weight for six hours would cost around Rs 8,000 at Jewar, while it is nearly Rs 6,900 at Delhi airport.
The airline also claimed that operating just 15 round-trip flights daily from Jewar instead of Delhi airport could increase annual operating costs by more than Rs 103 crore.
“To offer lucrative airfares in comparison to Delhi, airlines would not be able to absorb additional costs to carry the same passenger from Jewar instead of Delhi,” IndiGo told AERA in its submission.
The airline has made it clear that the burden of the additional costs will directly fall on the passengers who may have to pay higher prices for the same flight from Jewar.
Air India also raised similar concerns.
Following these submissions, AERA issued new tariff orders, but critics point out that they still do not compensate enough. BJP MLA Dhirendra Singh also wrote to PM Modi to reconsider the proposed User Development Fee and other passenger charges.
“If, during the very initial phase itself, airfares become higher than those for Delhi Airport, it would impose an unnecessary financial burden upon passengers and adversely impact the airport’s competitiveness,” he wrote in a letter on 8 May.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)