Noida International Airport will be strategic for cargo operations: Civil Aviation Minister

The Noida International Airport in Jewar is set to be inaugurated on October 30, 2025 and flight operations are expected to start within 45 days of the date of inauguration, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Union minister of civil aviation, said on Thursday.

“We are trying to push up the inauguration of the Noida airport so that we can see it happen very soon. The date that we have decided (for the inauguration) is October 30. Within 45 days from that date, we will see the operations also starting,” Naidu told reporters.

“I don’t know the exact plan right now but airlines are very much excited to operate from Jewar airport. We feel that there is a huge potential from that area. I can foresee that at least 10 cities will be connected in the first phase from Jewar airport. Seeing the discussions that are happening with the airlines, we see it as a strategic cargo connectivity airport more than a civil aviation airport,” he explained.

Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and all other big cities will be connected with the Jewar airport, the Union civil aviation minister said.

Located in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar, the greenfield Noida International Airport will be the second international airport in the national capital region (NCR) after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Built at a cost of ₹29,500 crore, the Noida International Airport is running about a year behind the schedule, as it was supposed to be operational by September last year. However, drainage issues delayed the construction work for some time.

On September 17, Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS), through its wholly owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) AISATS Noida Cargo Terminal Private Limited (ANCTPL), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chennai-based cargo airline Afcom Holdings Ltd. to initiate freighter operations at the upcoming Noida International Airport. This collaboration marks a pivotal stride toward transforming DXN into North India's premier cargo gateway, complementing major hubs like Delhi and Mumbai, and advancing India’s ambition to become a global trade powerhouse.

The work at the Multi-Modal Cargo Hub (MMCH) at Noida International Airport is progressing rapidly. Spanning 87 acres, it will include a 30-acre Integrated Cargo Terminal (initial capacity: 250,000 MT per annum) and a 57-acre Integrated Warehousing and Logistics Zone. The upcoming hub will include modern trucking facilities, docking bays, and a COSYS+ Cargo Management System that digitizes cargo handling for real-time visibility and transparency.