In a major development, which took place during the concluding day of UP Investors summit, The UP Government has decided to develop the proposed Jewar international airport as aviation hub. It has been finally decided that the airport will have four runways, a flying and training institute, and cargo and Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) system.
UP civil aviation department, Director, Surya Pal Gangwar, who was the part of a special session during the summit, said that the plan to develop the Jewar airport as a state-of-the-art aviation hub was being worked out. We hope to complete the planning and other formalities completed soon.
While, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union aviation minister was also one of the main speakers during the Investors summit session on ‘civil aviation: emerging opportunities. He said, “Various studies have shown that the IGI airport will get fully congested by 2024. Therefore, Jewar airport project needs to be expedited. It is not only in the interest of Delhi but also UP and other states.”
He further said, “The important thing is to develop a central facility coordination committee to speed up the process. He also stressed on the need of having Metro rail connectivity before Jewar airport is completed.”
Touted as the biggest airport, the proposed airport is spread over 5,000 hectares with proposed four runways. Few days back, Dr. Arun Vir Singh, CEO, YEIDA said, “It has been expected that the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) will reach its saturation point with a 100-million passenger count by 2024-25, which will give rise to the need for a second airport in NCR. That’s why this proposed Jewar airport is built keeping in mind the future prospects for next 50 years.”
Recently, audit firm, PwC has projected that the proposed airport in Jewar is all set to cater 80 million passengers once it will get operational by 2022-23.
The civil aviation ministry expects Jewar airport to give a boost to connectivity in the whole of western Uttar Pradesh, which will in turn increase tourism and economic potential of the region.