With the groundbreaking and foundation-laying ceremony for Noida International Airport on Friday, Uttar Pradesh is now on its way to having five international airports – the highest for any Indian state.
Earlier till 2017, UP had only two international airports –at Varanasi and Lucknow. While the third international airport at Kushinagar became operational on October 20, work on Ayodhya international airport is in full swing and air services are expected to start from there early next year. The fifth international airport is to come up at Jewar near Noida in the National Capital Region (NCR.)
At present, Uttar Pradesh has eight operational airports, while 13 airports and seven airstrips are being developed. The operational airports handling commercial flights in the state are Lucknow, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Agra, Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj and Hindon (Ghaziabad.)
“The unique distinction of Uttar Pradesh in providing unmatched air connectivity in the country is in keeping with the government’s commitment to ensure uninterrupted multi-modal connectivity on land, railways, water and air. The ambitious Prime Minister Gati Shakti National Master Plan has infused a sense of urgency into the plans for infrastructure development in the state,” a UP government spokesman said in Lucknow on Friday.
Being constructed near Jewar township in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) in the NCR in Uttar Pradesh, the Noida International Airport (NIA) will be India’s largest airport after its completion. Its location is about 72 km from the existing Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, 40 km from Noida and about 40 km from the multi-modal logistics hub at Dadri (Ghaziabad). It will have excellent multimodal connectivity as it is close to the Yamuna Expressway (Greater Noida to Agra), close to Eastern Peripheral Expressway and it will have a link with Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at Ballabhgarh, Khurja-Jewar NH 91, link to dedicated freight corridor, Metro Extension from Noida to NIA and link with the proposed High-Speed Rail (Delhi-Varanasi) at the airport terminal.
“The operationalisation of the airports is already bringing in investment, establishing industries, and creating employment opportunities in the eastern part of the state, ensuring its social and economic development,” the government spokesman said.