Delhi Noida International Airport

Construction of a second Delhi airport is expected to commence in the second half of 2021 if financing is secured.

It may still be a few years away from becoming reality, but a second Delhi airport is now well and truly on the radar following confirmation that Zurich Airport will build and operate the new gateway and the appointment of its new management team.

Delhi Noida International Airport (DNIA) will be led by CEO, Christoph Schnellmann, while Kiran Jain, a popular and well-known face in the airport and aviation industry, will serve as its chief operating officer.

The Swiss airport’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA), submitted the highest bid for the 40-year concession to develop and manage Delhi Noida International Airport, which will be located in Jewar, in Uttar Pradesh, around 72 kilometres from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Expected to cost around €600 million, the greenfield airport is slated to open in 2024 and and will initially be equipped to handle 12 million passengers per annum. However, an ambitious development plan includes proposals to raise its capacity to 30mppa in Phase II and 70mppa by the end of the concession in 2061.

DNIA chairman and managing director, Daniel Bircher, reveals that Zurich Airport has received the letter of award (LoA) of the contract following the gaining of all the necessary security approvals and expects to officially sign the concession agreement with Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) in mid-October 2020.

“It has been a difficult year, not helped by the COVID-related travel restrictions, but we are currently in discussion with the government about the date for signing the concession agreement,” says Bircher.

Indeed, ZAIA has been working on Delhi Noida International Airport’s master plan since January 2020 and is currently in the process of appointing architects and planners for the project.

He notes that ZAIA is also in advanced discussions with different financial institutions in a bid to secure all the funding for the project by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

While the Indian government and state of Uttar Pradesh have agreed compensation packages with landowners whose property has been acquired for the new airport and are finalising relocation and resettlement deals for families living on what will be the site of DNIA.

“We anticipate completing the preconstruction activities, including all the necessary legal requirements for the project to go-ahead, in the first half year of 2021 and expect construction to begin immediately afterwards,” enthuses Bircher.

“We have noted the recent efforts of the Government of Uttar Pradesh to attract investors into the Greater Noida area. This is a very welcome move and will help to develop and grow the already emerging area known as the National Capital Region.

“The state of Uttar Pradesh is also planning to build a new elevated roadway between IGI Airport [Indira Gandhi International Airport] and DNIA, and the existing Delhi Metro system is to be extended to the new airport, so it will have fast and effective road connectivity and rail links.

“Despite the current challenges due to COVID-19, Zurich Airport is extremely motivated to develop this concession and invest in Uttar Pradesh and India.”

Bircher notes that Zurich Airport is no stranger to doing business in India having previously been part of the consortium that successfully built and operated Bengaluru’s own greenfield gateway, Kempegowda International Airport, before selling its stake in 2017.

“Our success in Bengaluru and elsewhere across the world, where we operate a total of nine airports, proves that we are more than qualified to take on the challenge of Delhi Noida International Airport,” states Bircher.

“Our aim is to develop and operate a portfolio of airports in Asia. Delhi Noida is part of this strategy and other Indian airports could follow in the future, when the time is right.”

Talking about the appeal of DNIA to Zurich Airport, chief financial officer, Lukas Brosi, comments: “Noida International Airport will be strategically located between Delhi and Agra, close to the fast-developing Noida and greater Noida area. If we look at large metropolitan areas worldwide, we find that second airports become viable once the primary airport reaches a certain hurdle in terms of passengers.

“We believe that Noida International Airport will complement and work in harmony with Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and look forward to close collaboration with it in the future.”

Bircher adds that the importance of Delhi Noida working in tandem with Indira Gandhi International Airport cannot be underestimated and is why he believes that both airports should be treated equally by India’s aviation authorities when DNIA opens for business.

“Our understanding is that DNIA will be treated fairly and in the same way as IGI Airport and not as a less important airport, particularly when it comes to traffic rights and airspace management as this will allow both to flourish and, going forward, is the best way to serve the National Capital Region,” says Bircher.