No plans to tie up with others to operate Noida airport, says CEO

Zurich Airport International is here for the long run and has no plans to partner with any other entity to manage or operate the Noida International Airport, the latter’s chief executive officer, Christoph Schnellmann, said on Tuesday.

The first phase of construction of the airport was on schedule, and it would be operational by September 2024, meeting the concession agreement’s deadline and allowing for a passenger capacity of 12 million, he said. Ultimately, in phase 4, the airport’s capacity will increase to 70 million.

Schnellmann said that future phases of airport development might be accelerated if air traffic grows at a higher rate than expected.

“After the opening of phase one, we are quite flexible. As we see traffic grow, we will trigger future phases of airport growth. And it may well be that given these aircraft orders, given the expected growth—if it is more than what was estimated in 2019-20—we may accelerate future development phases,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

The concession agreement signed with the Uttar Pradesh government states that the subsequent phase of construction will commence once 80 per cent of the preceding phase’s capacity has been utilised. Meanwhile, in February, Air India, which was acquired by the Tata group a year prior, set a new record for the largest single-tranche aircraft purchase in history by ordering 470 planes—250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing.

“We are excited by the aircraft orders. It is a confirmation that north India and NCR (national capital region) need more airports,” Schnellmann said.

Zurich Airport International won the bid to build and operate the Noida international airport in Jewar, around 70 km from the main Delhi region, in November 2019. The company outbid Delhi International Airport (DIAL), Adani Enterprises, and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings to win the 40-year concession for the airport.

^{First phase of construction of the airport was on schedule, and it would be operational by Sept 2024 (Photo: Deepak Patel)}

According to Schnellmann, the duration required to finish the first phase of construction for the Noida airport was comparable to that of Bengaluru airport’s inaugural stage.

“We were one of the promoters of the Bangalore airport, when it was a greenfield project in 2007-08. When it opened, it was pretty much the same size and scale. The construction period there as well was pretty much comparable to what we are doing here. I think it was 33 months for the Bangalore airport. That is comparable,” he said.

In response to queries about potential collaborations for managing the airport, he stated that Zurich Airport International had no intentions of partnering with other entities. The company aims to manage the airport for the entire duration of the concession, which is set to last for the next 40 years. “We are here for the long run,” he said.

In the master plan, the Noida airport has allocated 40 acres for MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) activities, he said.

“We are convinced that as our airport grows, there will be more space for MRO activities. There is a great deal of interest in the MRO space, especially as we see that the airlines in India continue to choose new and bigger aircraft,” he said.