PM Modi inaugurates Phase I of Noida International Airport

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated Phase I of the Noida International Airport in Jewar: a project first approved in 2003 that survived three Governments, four postponements, and over two decades of political blame before a plane could taxi on its runway.

Standing before a crowd of thousands, Modi did something unusual for an airport inauguration. After pulling the ceremonial curtain, he declared the job only “half done.” He asked every person present to switch on their mobile phone flashlights and raise their hands, effectively handing the inauguration over to the public.

“This is your property, this is your future, this is your hard work, and therefore, its inauguration is also being done by your hands,” Modi said, as a sea of glowing screens lit up the venue. The moment was captured in a single image, revealing the political messaging behind the event: that the airport belongs to the people, not just the Government.

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government first approved the airport in files in 2003. It remained buried there for over a decade. Modi was pointed in his attack on the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. “From 2004 to 2014, this project remained hidden in files,” he said. “Even when our government was formed in Delhi, the SP Government in UP blocked it for the first two to three years.”

Even after the BJP came to power in Lucknow, the airport’s opening was pushed back repeatedly from December 1, 2024, to April 2025, then September 2025, and finally to early 2026.

The DGCA issued the aerodrome licence only on March 6, 2026, barely three weeks before the inauguration. Domestic and cargo flights are expected to begin within 45 days, somewhere between mid-April and May 2026. International flights are likely to start from September this year.

Developed at a total investment of around Rs 11,200 crore under the Public-Private Partnership model, the Noida International Airport is set to become the second international airport serving the Delhi-NCR region, after Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The two airports, the Government said, will function as an integrated aviation system, easing congestion and expanding passenger capacity.

The airport will serve as a primary international airport for cities including Noida, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Mathura, and Agra and will also double as a gateway to pilgrimage and tourist destinations in the region. Modi listed the cities set to benefit: “Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Etawah, Bulandshahr, Faridabad — this entire region is going to benefit greatly.”

Alongside the airport inauguration, Modi also laid the foundation stone of a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility at Jewar. He pointed out that currently, 85 per cent of India’s aircraft have to be sent abroad for maintenance work.

“Our Government has determined that we will make India self-reliant in the MRO sector as well,” he said.

Modi also took a swipe at the political superstition that once surrounded Noida: a widely held belief among UP politicians that visiting the city would bring electoral bad luck.

“The Noida which was earlier left to its fate due to superstition, where previous rulers were afraid to come for fear of losing their chair: I remember when the SP Government was here, and I made a plan to come to Noida, so the Chief Minister was so scared that he did not come to that programme,” Modi said.  “People also tried to scare me. I said I am going to take the blessings of this land. Now that same area is ready to welcome the whole world.”

Modi made a point of thanking the farmers who gave up their land for the project, asking the crowd to applaud them. He also linked the airport to wider agricultural opportunity, saying the expansion of modern connectivity would boost food processing in Western UP and allow agricultural products to reach world markets.

He also credited sugarcane farmers for helping reduce India’s dependence on crude oil through ethanol blending, saying it had saved foreign exchange worth approximately Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

The event was attended by UP Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, and Joseph Felder, Chairman of Zurich Airport.

Tight security and a traffic advisory were in force from 7 am to 11 pm across Gautam Buddh Nagar ahead of Modi’s visit.