Prior to its commercial launch in April 2025, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) carried out its first flight validation test on Monday. For the Noida International Airport, this is a significant turning point. Under the direction of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), an IndiGo aircraft from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) arrived at the airport location in Jewar on Sunday for the technical evaluation, officials said.
The flying test was supervised by senior IAS officer SP Goyal as well as officers from the Uttar Pradesh Civil Aviation Department, DGCA, NIAL, and the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Noida's Jewar airport flight test: Details
The aircraft that flew from Delhi to Noida stayed in the air for over two hours before coming down, according to the News18 story. The trip involved "close coordination between the pilot and the air traffic controller (ATC)" and was extensively monitored, the officials said.
According to officials, there were just crew members on board the aircraft for today's test flight. "The runway at Jewar Airport (around 3.9 km in length) has been specially designed with the collaboration of Zurich Airport Authority of Switzerland," the officials stated to News18.
Noida's Jewar airport flight test: How was the test flight conducted?
After taking off from IGI Airport, the test flight arrived at Jewar Airport in a matter of minutes. Before eventually landing at the airport, the plane was in the air for 1.5 to 2 hours, according to the officials.
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"Before landing at Jewar Airport, close coordination between the pilot and the ATC will be closely monitored. After all the safety checks, the plane will land on the runway," they had previously stated, if the trial is successful today, Jewar Airport will be approved to commence commercial airline operations in April 2025. According to the officials, there were only crew members on board today's flight and no passengers.
Noida's Jewar airport flight test: Process in December
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was in charge of the exercise, according to a Hindustan Times report that quoted authorities. The DGCA will analyze all of the data that was gathered. Officials from the DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), NIAL, and the UP Civil Aviation Department were among the supervising staff. Among these officers was SP Goyal, a senior IAS officer. The trial was initially set for November 15, NIAL's nodal officer, Shailendra Bhatia, informed HT.
The test evaluates systems like communication protocols, emergency response preparedness, airspace coordination, and runway performance. "We aim to complete the validation process by December 15, after which the airport concessionaire will apply for an aerodrome license, a key requirement for commercial operations," Bhatia continued. The Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) were successfully calibrated in October 2024, marking earlier milestones.