Jewar farmers to touch the sky
Around 170 farmers and agricultural workers, including 20 women from the Jewar area who had given their ancestral land to the Government for the construction of the international airport after receiving compensation, will travel on the airport’s inaugural flight beginning from Monday as a gesture of appreciation to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the region’s development.
The first flights from Noida International Airport will connect Jewar with Lucknow, Bengaluru and other destinations, with the airport also witnessing its first landings on the same day. The occasion will mark the start of a new chapter for the area, opening a fresh gateway for passengers, airlines and cargo operators in the National Capital Region and north India.
The delegation, led by Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh, will fly to Lucknow, where they are scheduled to meet the Chief Minister.
“The farmers and agricultural workers who spent their lives cultivating these lands will now undertake their first air journey from the international airport built upon them. This is not merely an air journey. It is a flight of recognition of the dignity of the nation’s food providers. The same hands that nurtured crops and fed the nation will now fasten their seat belts and become participants in India’s new journey of progress and aspiration,” he added.
Their journey is being seen as a symbolic moment as those who once worked on these fields will now become passengers at the airport built on the same land.
The airport will see 40-42 daily flights in the first two months. While cargo operations too start from day one, international flights are expected to start later this year with foreign carriers evincing interest to start services to the Greenfield airport.
The airport, located in Gautam Buddh Nagar district within the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority area, is considered one of the Uttar Pradesh Government’s flagship infrastructure projects. For travellers living in Noida, Greater Noida and nearby districts, Jewar Airport is expected to offer a closer alternative to Delhi’s IGI Airport, particularly once more airlines and routes are introduced.
The airport is being positioned as a key aviation hub for western Uttar Pradesh, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Agra, Aligarh and surrounding regions. In its first phase, the airport has been designed to handle millions of passengers annually, with expansion plans already built into the project.
The airport received its aerodrome licence from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on March 6, 2026. Developed over approximately 1,334 hectares, the project is planned in four phases. The first phase, consisting of a single runway and passenger terminal, has been developed at cost of Rs 11,200 crore. Last month the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority allowed the Noida airport to collect Rs 490 as user development fee from domestic departing passengers.
IndiGo plans to connect the facility in phases with more than 16 destinations, including Lucknow, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Srinagar and Pantnagar. The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year.
The report said flight activity at the defence-operated airport has fallen sharply in recent months. Last winter, Hindon handled around 25 daily aircraft movements, but that number has since reduced significantly after airlines trimmed operations and Air India Express exited the airport.
Hindon’s operational limitations have also posed challenges for carriers. The airport has limited aircraft parking capacity and operates within restricted hours, making schedule disruptions harder to manage. If one aircraft occupies a parking position longer than planned, incoming flights may have to be diverted elsewhere. Efforts are reportedly underway to add more parking bays at the airport.
