Dilli door ast (Photo: Saurabh Sinha) NEW DELHI: Zurich Airport has prepared itself for a longer takeoff roll at Noida Airport before the traffic here takes off. Multiple factors like the last-minute pullout by on of the three launch airlines; Delhi’s IGI Airport operating way below its existing and still expandable capacity and Noida International Airport’s (NIA) connectivity woes with Delhi have meant a much lower than originally expected air traffic at the new hub that stated operations on June 15. Zurich Airport International AG is NIA’s primary developer and concessionaire.Zurich Airport has said in its outlook for NIA: “Slower ramp up expected due to challenging geo political environment with near time performance remaining subject to elevated uncertainty. Route network will continue to expand with international services expected to follow. Strong confidence in the long term growth potential and attractive fundamentals of the Indian aviation market.”It said NIA saw 104 flights and 25,000 passengers in June. This rose to 1,044 flights and 77,000 passengers in July. The airport’s HY 16 EBIDTA loss is estimated about $3 million.IndiGo is the biggest operator at NIA, with Akasa having a few flights. Air India Express, which was to be the third launch airlines, had pulled out due to mounting losses of AI group. Setting up a new base means incurring significant expense, something AI wanted to avoid at this time.The going was never going to be easy for NIA, the first second airport to open in an Indian urban conglomerate without either the pre-existing hub operating to capacity (like Mumbai CSMIA); being constrained (like Goa Dabolim) or the older one shutting down (like Bengaluru HAL, Hyderabad Begumpet and Visakhapatnam when Bhogapuram opens in a couple of months). The new airports in Hyderabad and Bengaluru are almost as far as Delhiites find NIA to be but travellers simply didn’t have any option but to trudge the distance. Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad, however, have an option that’s closer, better connected and more affordable multi modal transport.When it was coming up amid the boom post Covid boom in air travel, NIA was expected to have a tough time till 2030 when IGIA was to saturate by reaching its peak capacity of about 13-14 crore passengers annually (CPA). IGIA currently has a capacity of 11 CPA and handled less than 8 crore passengers last year. Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesDelhi Airport handles about 1,300 flights daily, way short of the 1,550 seen during the heady days of G20.So NIA would have to compete to get traffic with peak traffic hour slot availability being its USP to attract airlines. But it opened at a time when Indian carriers are reeling under the triple impact of finding lucrative western routes become unviable for them due to closure of Pakistan airspace for them since last April, US-Iran war sending oil prices flaring and the rupee weakening. As a result, they are cutting flights.Get the latest India News and Live updates. 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NEW DELHI: Zurich Airport has prepared itself for a longer takeoff roll at Noida Airport before the traffic here takes off. Multiple factors like the last-minute pullout by on of the three launch airlines; Delhi’s IGI Airport operating way below its existing and still expandable capacity and Noida International Airport’s (NIA) connectivity woes with Delhi have meant a much lower than originally expected air traffic at the new hub that stated operations on June 15. Zurich Airport International AG is NIA’s primary developer and concessionaire.Zurich Airport has said in its outlook for NIA: “Slower ramp up expected due to challenging geo political environment with near time performance remaining subject to elevated uncertainty. Route network will continue to expand with international services expected to follow. Strong confidence in the long term growth potential and attractive fundamentals of the Indian aviation market.”It said NIA saw 104 flights and 25,000 passengers in June. This rose to 1,044 flights and 77,000 passengers in July. The airport’s HY 16 EBIDTA loss is estimated about $3 million.IndiGo is the biggest operator at NIA, with Akasa having a few flights. Air India Express, which was to be the third launch airlines, had pulled out due to mounting losses of AI group. Setting up a new base means incurring significant expense, something AI wanted to avoid at this time.The going was never going to be easy for NIA, the first second airport to open in an Indian urban conglomerate without either the pre-existing hub operating to capacity (like Mumbai CSMIA); being constrained (like Goa Dabolim) or the older one shutting down (like Bengaluru HAL, Hyderabad Begumpet and Visakhapatnam when Bhogapuram opens in a couple of months). The new airports in Hyderabad and Bengaluru are almost as far as Delhiites find NIA to be but travellers simply didn’t have any option but to trudge the distance. Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad, however, have an option that’s closer, better connected and more affordable multi modal transport.When it was coming up amid the boom post Covid boom in air travel, NIA was expected to have a tough time till 2030 when IGIA was to saturate by reaching its peak capacity of about 13-14 crore passengers annually (CPA). IGIA currently has a capacity of 11 CPA and handled less than 8 crore passengers last year.
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Delhi Airport handles about 1,300 flights daily, way short of the 1,550 seen during the heady days of G20.So NIA would have to compete to get traffic with peak traffic hour slot availability being its USP to attract airlines. But it opened at a time when Indian carriers are reeling under the triple impact of finding lucrative western routes become unviable for them due to closure of Pakistan airspace for them since last April, US-Iran war sending oil prices flaring and the rupee weakening. As a result, they are cutting flights.
