The inaugural flight from Lucknow landed at Noida International Airport at 7:55 am on Monday, where the new airport began commercial operations after its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28.
IndiGo flight 6E-2278 departed Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport and landed at Noida International Airport at 7:55 am on Monday. The return service, IndiGo flight 6E-2279, is scheduled to depart Noida Airport at 6:55 pm and arrive in Lucknow at 8 pm.
When the plane landed at the airport, passengers inside the flight applauded to celebrate the successful landing of the inaugural flight. The plane was also received with a water cannon salute upon landing.
Notably, Akasa Air is also set to launch daily services from Noida Airport to Bengaluru and Navi Mumbai from Tuesday (June 16), becoming the second airline to operate from the airport.
Although commercial passenger services began on Monday, the airport’s first cargo flight is scheduled to depart on Wednesday (June 17), according to an earlier announcement by Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL). The shipping service will operate on the internal route.
Noida Airport begins commercial operations
At present, many passengers traveling between Noida and Lucknow use flights operating through Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport or travel by road.
Officials view the new airline as a major development for the aviation sector in Uttar Pradesh. It aims to improve communication between the administrative and commercial centers of the state.
The airport was built under a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG.
The facility has a 3,900-meter runway designed to accommodate wide-body aircraft. It is also equipped with modern navigation infrastructure, including an Instrument Landing System (ILS) and advanced airport lighting systems.
Officials had earlier said that a multi-layered security network had been set up at the airport, including artificial intelligence-based surveillance systems. Nearly 1,030 personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force have been deployed to enhance security measures. The Uttar Pradesh Police has also set up a dedicated police station for the airport.
