Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced that the state will have the highest number of international airports in the country, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s foundation-laying ceremony for the Noida International Airport at Jewar on November 25.
Presently, the state has eight operational airports, with another 13 airports and seven airstrips in the works.
Also Read | Accidental discharge of passenger’s gun at Atlanta airport cause widespread panic
“With the ground breaking and foundation laying ceremony of the Noida International Airport scheduled on November 25, the state is now on its way to have five international airports – the highest for any state in India,” the BJP-led state government said in a statement.
Lucknow and Varanasi were the only two cities to have international airports in Uttar Pradesh until 2012.
On October 20, PM Modi inaugurated the third international airport in Kushinagar, and work on the airport in Ayodhya is currently underway, with air services slated to start early next year, according to the statement.
It was announced that the fifth international airport would be built in Jewar, near Noida, in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Also Read | Big storm to affect busiest US airports, disrupt Thanksgiving travel
“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 Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti National Master Plan has infused a sense of urgency into the plans for infrastructure development in the state,” the statement stated.
The plan is basically a digital platform that will bring together 16 ministries, including railways and highways, to plan and implement infrastructure connectivity projects in a coordinated and integrated manner.
Also Read | Kim Kardashian West helps fly out Afghan women football players to Britain
The Noida International Airport (NIA) is being built near Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, in Gautam Buddh Nagar. According to the statement, it is 72 kilometres from New Delhi’s existing IGI airport, 40 kilometres from Noida, and 40 kilometres from Dadri’s multimodal logistics hub.
As it is close to the existing Yamuna Expressway (Greater Noida to Agra), Eastern Peripheral Expressway, and the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway at Ballabhgarh, Khurja-Jewar NH 91, the airport will have excellent multi-modal connectivity.
It will also connect to the Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Noida-NIA Metro Extension, and the proposed High Speed Rail (Delhi-Varanasi) at the airport terminal.
The statement further said that phase one of the airport will have a capacity of 12 million passengers per year and will be completed in three years.
