India opened the first phase of Noida International Airport (DXN) in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, on March 28, 2026, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the facility that is set to become the second commercial airport serving the Delhi-National Capital Region.
Flights expected by mid-May
Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said commercial flight operations would begin within 45 to 60 days of the inauguration, as airlines finalize slots, staffing, and ground handling arrangements. Domestic services are expected to launch first, with international operations to follow later in the year.
IndiGo is expected to serve as the launch carrier, with Akasa Air and Air India Express also planning early operations. Around 10 cities are expected to receive direct connectivity from Jewar within the first phase of operations, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai.
Phase 1 infrastructure
Phase 1 of the airport was developed at a cost of approximately Rs 11,200 crore under a public-private partnership. Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, holds the concession and will operate the facility for an initial period of 40 years. The terminal covers 100,000 square meters and is designed to handle 12 million passengers per year. The airport’s single runway stretches 3,900 meters, capable of accommodating wide-body aircraft.
The airport is located along the Yamuna Expressway, roughly 75 kilometers from central Delhi, and is intended to ease chronic congestion at Indira Gandhi International Airport, which has been operating at or near capacity as India’s domestic air travel market has grown. India crossed 160 million domestic passengers in 2025.
Modi also inaugurated a cargo terminal at the site and laid the foundation stone for a maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility. Akasa Air has separately confirmed plans to establish an MRO operation at Jewar, marking its first such facility in India.
Years of delays
The project has seen repeated delays. Originally scheduled to open in late 2024, the commercial operation date was pushed back to 2025, then to early 2026, before the March 28, 2026, inauguration. The aerodrome licence was issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on March 6, 2026.
At full development across four phases, the airport is planned to reach a capacity of 70 million passengers per year by 2040, which would rank it among Asia’s largest aviation hubs.
