Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase 1 of Noida International Airport (DXN) in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, on March 28, 2026, establishing Delhi NCR’s second commercial airport to alleviate congestion at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu indicated commercial flights will commence within 45 to 60 days, targeting mid-April to mid-May 2026, after airlines complete slot allocations, staffing, and ground handling. IndiGo will launch operations, joined by Akasa Air and Air India Express, connecting initially to 10 domestic cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai. International services follow later in 2026.
Developed at Rs 11,200 crore under a public-private partnership, the airport is operated by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a Zurich Airport International AG subsidiary, for 40 years. Phase 1 features a 100,000-square-meter terminal handling 12 million passengers annually and a 3,900-meter runway for wide-body aircraft. Located 75 km from central Delhi along Yamuna Expressway, it addresses India’s 160 million domestic passengers in 2025.
Modi also opened a cargo terminal and laid the foundation for an MRO facility, with Akasa Air planning its first Indian MRO there. The DGCA issued the aerodrome license on March 6, 2026, after delays from a late 2024 target. Full four-phase development targets 70 million passengers yearly by 2040.