Why India is Building Its Largest Airport, beside the 9th airport in the world?

Why India is Building Its Largest Airport, besides the 9^th airport in the world?

Why India is Building Its Largest AirportIndia's largest airport is being made a little ahead of Greater Noida in Jewar Not in India, it will be the largest in Asia, and the World's third largest based on the number of runways.

After being built this will have 6 runways, It will cost more than ₹1 Lakh Crore, and after opening it will handle more than 12 crore passengers every year. For comparison, we see the largest airport in India today, which is IGI Airport, which can handle around 6-7 Crore passengers in a year. So Noida International Airport can handle double the capacity after opening. It will be speeded over 7,200 acres, where 4-5 terminals will be made.

if IGI Airport is already the country's biggest airport, Why there is a need for a bigger and newer airport that is just 80 km away?

Now the question arises, if IGI Airport is already the country's biggest airport, Why there is a need for a bigger and newer airport that is just 80 km away? IGI Airport comes in 9th place in the World, and recently its 4th runway has also opened, due to which it can handle 2,000 flights per day. Apart from this Delhi has two more Airports, Hindon Airport and Safdurjung Airport, So can't they be expanded?

To know about this we have to go back to 1918, when Delhi's first airport was made. This was made in Lutyens Delhi’s southern boundary, whose name was Willingdon Airfield, this was less of an airport and more of an open field because grass runways and tents were called airfields.

At that time new airplanes had come to India, and most of them were British Royal Airforce, which practiced and exercised there. Willingdon's name was given to Lord Willingdon, who became the viceroy and governor-general of India. But it took 10 years for an improving infrastructure, when the first commercial flight landed in 1927 This airfield was converted to a small aerodrome, and grassy runways were made into dirt runways. so Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Asphalt and Concrete runways came way later This was India's 2nd aerodrome after Mumbai's Juhu aerodrome it became more commercial and services started, Delhi Flying Club started around that time in 1928, this became a club of rich flying enthusiasts, who took their flights from this aerodrome. For this reason, this aerodromes was used to some extent. But the main usages started around World War II when the force needed it.

This became a part of the South Atlantic ferry route, which the Allies airforce used to transport critical war material. And because plane ranges were not so far, they had to stop now and then to refuel. that is why this ferry route was made with many stops. In 1947, this airport was used in the India-Pakistan War, This was mostly used by Air Force flights, and commercial flights were rare.

After Independence Delhi's population increased as well as the area expanded, through which the airport which was on the boundary came into the middle. Its nearby cities spread out, and new neighborhoods started to form, due to which there wasn't much space available for the extension of the airport.

Why India is Building Its Largest Airport: Safdarjung Airpot

Its name was changed from Willingdon Airport to Safdarjung Airpot, based near Safdurjung's Tomb This was Delhi's main airport, and passenger flights increased so much after the independence that in 1962 its total commercial operations were shifted to the new Palam Airport. Apart from increasing operations, it has one more reason, that modern jet engines were more powerful and more efficient compared to previous engines, Aircraft sizes also increased and could accommodate more people, so they needed more space for landing and take off.

One side note, You must have noticed that the old runways had two or three runways in a crossed shape, which intersected among themselves, The main reason for this was that the earlier plans couldn't handle the crosswinds during take-off and landing. The pilot had to measure in which direction the wind was blowing, and then accordingly use that runway which is useful for them. So out of 3 only 1 runway was in use at a time but that was based on the direction of the wind. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

An Airplane needs a headwind for takeoff and landing, through which the wind blows from the front opposite to the direction of travel. Because the more headwinds the wings get, the more lift they will be able to generate. Hence they will use less runway in take-off and landing. Today planes are such powerful that can even withstand strong crosswinds.

That is why we don't see many cross-runways nowadays. Coming back to the topic, In 1962, most of the commercial flights were shifted to Palam Airport, which was opened 30 years ago in 1932, it was an Air Force base only.

This lies in the south-western boundary near Dwarka First, it had 2 cross runways, which were converted into a Taxiway, and the other was expanded, In 1979-80, 30 lakh international and domestic travelers used it, and there was only one terminal then T1 Seeing the increased demand, New terminal T2 was made which was 4 times bigger in area. This opened in 1986 when the Asian Games was held in Delhi, then all the international flights were shifted to T2, and T1 was also upgraded which had 3 parts, T1 A, B, and C.

Due to an increase in holds flights and an increase in international flight passengers number drastically increased in IGI airport, With the increase in Jet Engine, the range increased significantly through which new direct international flights were added to the list. Air India and the other Major airline hub was Delhi Airport, and International careers like Panam, British Airways, and Air France also made plans to keep Delhi in center. After Liberalization of the Indian economy, there was an explosion in air travel, and every other person started to travel.

This meant more expansion in the airport, Aeroplanes also became big, New white body aircraft, like the Airbus A380 and Boing 747. They needed long runways of 3.5-4 km long. Terminals needed superwhite gates, to accommodate these big aircraft. Talking about passengers then in 2006-2007, T1 and T2 could handle only 1.25 crore but they were handling 1.65 Crore, which was 30% more than that. Congestion increased even more when the other runway opened next year, 3.8km long, 10/28.

Here aircraft movement increased but passenger movement did not increase much because T1 and T2 were very congested. The Airport Authority of India needed to do something big in very little time because the Commonwealth Games was on the verge. They also started to realize this, and they took the help of private companies, to build new terminals and runways, which would cost thousands of crores That's why Delhi Airport rights were sold to DIAL Concession. whose full form is Delhi International Airport Limited and Mumbai Airport rights were sold to GVK group.

When the DIAL concession was made, then it had 4 major stakeholders GMR group, Fraport, Malaysia Airports, and Airport Authority of India. 9 years after Malaysia Airport sold its stakes to GMR group for ₹505 Crore, because of which GMR group has a 64% stake in DIAL. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Why India is Building Its Largest Airport: public-private partnerships a big transformation in IGI

These public-private partnerships a big transformation in IGI, where a new terminal T3 and 3rd runway also opened by 2010 This terminal was completed in a record time of 37 months, and after being opened the airport capacity increased by 3.4 crore passengers per year. This terminal and runway cost ₹14,000 Crore, Apart from this Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway opened around that time, which provided a non-stop connection in the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway Expressway passes near the airport, which is why multiple approach ramps were made for connecting.

For the 2010 Commonwealth Games upgrades were made in a few years, and after opening T3 became the 8th Largest every international flight was then shifted here from T1 and T2 Next year in 2011, the Airport Express line also opened toll T3, which became the first such airport expressway. The new runway and terminal advantages were many people were traveling by air, where the majority of the people traveled for the first time. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Such was seen, because more flights could operate than before from one airport, which was dominated by a few players. Seeing the demand for new airlines also came into the industry, and because of this competition increased and ticket prices fell. Apart from this new air routes also were made that were not well connected before, and new low-cost carriers like Indigo and SpiceJet took advantage of it, this exponential growth was seen in the early 2000s, and has continued till now to some extent.

After the opening of T3, T2 was also renovated in the 2010s, and now T1 renovation is going on, where all the small terminals, T1 A, B, C, and D are combined to form a big terminal in this interesting guitar-shape Gates will be there in its neck with aerobridges when planes are parked and entry exits will be there inside the base of the terminal.

After the completion, it could handle 4 Crore Passengers, only this terminal. In 2 years of Covid, the airline industry was in bad shape, but from 2022 the demand has risen in such a way, that airlines and airports haven't expected that is why T1's renovation and the work of the 4th runway could be done with speed, because of Covid caused delays.

4th runway was opened in the previous month now total flight capacity is 1500 to 2000 flights per day. Apart from this, two elevated taxis have also been opened, through which the airplanes can cross the roads through these elevated structures. This is the first such structure in India. This is done as such, because at first if any planes had to go from the Southern runway to northern terminal or Northern runway to the Southern Terminal then they had to go from this western taxiway, which was very time-consuming and also increased fuel consumption

So this elevated taxiway has made a shortcut for these two parts of the Airport so the planes can come and go. And especially it is very important, because the 4th runway has also opened. With the expansion of T1, IGI airport could handle 10 Crore passengers per year, After that T2 will be expanded, and there is a plan to make T4 with the increasing demand So after being made the total capacity of IGI will be 14 passengers/year. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Why India is Building Its Largest Airport: there are only two such airports in the world

For comparison, Today there are only two such airports in the world, which can handle more than 10 crore passengers in a year. One is in Beijing China and the other one is in Atlanta USA. Presently there are three operational terminals in IGI, T1 and T2 for domestic operations and T3 for mixed use for domestic and international operations.

IGI Airport is spread over 5,200 acres and has been the busiest airport in India since 2009. It was the 9th busiest airport in the world in 2022-2023 with 5.9 crore passengers. This is the busiest cargo airport in India Nearly 9 lakh ton cargo airport is being carried in 2022. Although IGI is one of the best airports, because it was developed in parts that's why the connectivity is not so good in between the terminals. Like T1 and T3 don't have airside connectivity, i.e. an international passenger is coming to Delhi, then they have to clear the immigration before going to domestic flights. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Many connecting passengers have to face this issue if their flight is operated from different terminals. If a passenger wants to go to other terminals after immigration, then inter-terminal transport is very limited. Bus shuttles are provided in between the 3 terminals which works after every 20 minutes. Where T2 and T3 are very close, it takes 15-20 minutes to go to T1 according to the traffic situation. In the Future, these 3 terminals are planned to connect via air trains but that hasn't been approved yet.

Not only Delhi, IGI Airport is the Major International Hub of North India, there are direct flights to 141 destinations worldwide in 51 countries. More than any airport in India Hence Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand passengers come here through trains, buses, and taxis, for international destinations. So to reduce the traffic from IGI Airport, every major state capital needs to build an International Airport that can handle more flights Due to this people will not have to come to Delhi and can take international flights directly from their states.

Because If this continues then after 15-20 years, the 14 crore capacity will be insufficient. In the future, no more terminals and runways can be because the space is more constrained. There is another option for the 3rd Airport, expanding Hindon Airport. whose size is much smaller. But it doesn't have any spaces left to expand. Hindon Airport which was opened as an airforce station in the 1960s, Since then has been the major base of the Indian Airforce.

After commercial flights started in Palampur, many airforce operations were shifted here. It lies in the north-eastern direction of Delhi in Loni Ghaziabad near the Hindaun River, which is why it’s named Hindaun. Only one runway is there in the east-west direction 2.7km long, This was converted to a civil enclave in 2017, where commercial flights can also run apart from the Air Force. Both of them share runways, ATC, and other facilities. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

One small terminal was made for this, where these two airlines started to operate regional flights from here. But from January 2023, they both have stopped their services, i.e. no commercial flights are active right now. whereas the flying club was shut down in Safdurjung Airport after 9/11, due to security reasons. Now this is only used for VVIP helicopters till IGI Airport, which is mostly used by presidents and prime ministers. 80-90 helicopters are moving from here every month from this Airport.

Apart from this, One 1.5 km long tunnel was also made which directly connects the President's residents to Safdurjung Airport for faster movement. So Safdurjung is closed, no commercial fl running in Hindaun Airport, and there is no space to expand in IGI Airport, then what to do? If there is no plan to build airports in the Northern State Capital, then there is a need for an Airport in NCR. If estimates were to be believed, then India's air passenger traffic would increase by 7% annually and will double in 20 years.

This means that where 6-7 crore passengers travel from Delhi Airport every year, that figure will be in 20 years of 13-14 Crore passengers. IGI gets congested in the peak times, like last year it was rumored that few passengers had to wait for hours, and some of them even missed their flights from T3. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Why India is Building Its Largest Airport: Indian Airlines is taking a big step to capture this demand

Last year when Tata Group bought Air India, then they ordered 500 Jets from Airbus and Boeing, which will cost $100 Billion i.e. ₹8 Lakh 20 Crore. It will have 400 narrow body aircraft and 100 wide bodies, whereas Airbus A350, Boeing 737, and Boeing 787 will be also there. Indigo also ordered 500 Airbus A320S for ₹4 Lakh 50 Thousand Crores, which makes it the largest aircraft order from a single airline.

Their deliveries will start in 2024 and will be completed within 10-15 years, Already Indigo's previous orders of 400 planes are already pending, adding this 500, will make a total of 900 planes in pending orders, which is a huge figure. If Airlines are giving such big orders, that means it is clear that more airports are needed in the country. for handling so many aircraft.

Every state capital of the country needs to develop into an international hub due to which the traffic will spread widely, there will be not so much pressure in Delhi. So if there is a need for NCR, then it can't be done in the western side, because IGI is already there. and Hindon in the northeastern side, so south eastern side is a good option. There was a space in Greater Noida to build an Airport, but it would be difficult to expand to 6 runways in the future, plus the land would also be expensive. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

That's why Jewar was chosen, it’s a little far away from the city but will be accessible to the whole region of Western UP. Although Delhi's majority of the population lives on the Eastern side, like Faridabad, like Faridabad, Ghaziabad, like Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, like Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, and Greater Noida. And it is not far away from Mathura, And it is not far away from Mathura, Agra, And it is not far away from Mathura, Agra, Aligarh And it is not far away from Mathura, Agra, Aligarh and Bulandshir.

Jewar Airport was proposed by the Government of UP at that time in 2001, in the form of the Taj International Aviation Centre. It was to be made in 2007-2008, but GMR opposed its plans. They said making a new International Airport of only 87 km far IGI will lose its profits and traffic. When the new UP government was formed in 2012, then they thought of shifting to Etmadpur village in Firozabad district near Agra. They had allocated this land in 2014 but Central Government again shifted this to Jewar.

In 2017 Union Chief Secretary of Aviation warned the UP government to complete the planning process quickly, because Hisar Airport was also asking for the Union Cabinet's approval to expand its airport, so that it serves the NCR region, which both airports would see diluted returns on investment as traffic would have been spread out in between the two, then the land allocation of Jewar Airport will start soon, and Flughafen Zurich AG which operates Zurich Airport, they won the tender of 40 years in making and operating of Noida Airport.

A special purpose vehicle was made to make, operate, and manage this Airport which was named Yamuna International Airport Pvt. Ltd. GMR had the right of first refusal of any new airport to be made within the distance of 150 km from IGI. According to the contract terms, though their bid was 10 percent less than the highest bid. GMR could have waited for the Airport and the contract would have been given if their bid was 10 percent less than the highest bid. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

But Flughafen Zurich won the bid, although the number of the winning bid was not publicly announced. But we know so much that 6 years after the Airport opened, Flughafen will give a fixed fee to the Noida International Airport Authority for every passenger using the airline. We can assume from the previous deals that from ₹150-200 /passengers will be given to the government 6 years after opening, and the rest of the revenue will be kept by the operator.

Flughafen Zurich has 8 Airports in South America and is expanding in South and Southeast Asian countries like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. According to the plan of Noida Airport, the whole airport will be made into Four Phases, there is some confusion about these phases because there are different phases given by different sources.

We will consider 4 phases Phase 1 consists of two stages in which only half of the terminal will be opened with a 1.2 crore passenger capacity and in the next year the other half of the terminal will be opened by which the total terminal capacity will be 3 crore passengers per year. Terminal one will be stretched around the northern side with 22 acres of land with an east-west aligned runway, 10/28. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Well if you don’t know, the runway numbers carry special meanings, it is named from 01 to 36 which represents the runway heading's magnetic direction in degrees, whose last zero is removed. If a runway's number is 09 then it directly points to the East of 90 degrees, runway 27 will be 270 degrees and runway 36 will directly point to the north direction with 360 degrees. runway 18 points to the South through 180 degrees, runway 27 will point west to 270 degrees and runway 36 will directly point to the north direction with 360 degrees.

Here in numbering 0 is used in 360-degree numbers is used, because it is comparatively easy. If a plane is taking off or landing on runway 09, its direction will be 90 degrees towards the east cause runways can be used from both directions which is why the number is different on the two sides. For example in Noida Airport, Runway 108 means 100 degrees east, and the 28 will mean 280 degrees. Their difference will always be 18 means 180 degrees. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

If there are multiple runways in the same direction then it is denoted by L, C, and R i.e. left, center, and right. Delhi Airport contains the runways 11L 29R and 11R 29L. Anyway coming back to Noida Airport, phase 1 construction has started, and it is expected to be open by next year. After this phase 2 will be made, that too in 2 stages, like in phase 1 one new runway and terminal.

The terminal will be opened in two parts, It will cost 30,000 Crore for the two phases, and the total capacity will be 7 crore/passengers. Then after a few years if there is more demand, and it can be expanded, the work will be started on phase 3 and phase 4, where 4 runways and 2-3 terminals will be opened, then it will have the capacity of 12 crore passenger/year upto 2040-50.

Yes, it is a plan for the future, and unsure whether it will be done will be undone, or will be left in the middle, till now only these two phases have been planned, phase 3 and phase 4 are planned for marketing. If we think for a second, that 6 runways will be made, then it will be the 3rd largest Airport in the world, but most probably more Airports will be made bigger than this.

Why India is Building Its Largest Airport: Chicago and Dallas Airports of USA

Presently only in Chicago and Dallas Airports of USA have 7 and 8 runways respectively and Amsterdam, Denver, Detroit and Boston airport have 6 runways. Noida Airport will be connected to the expressway, and there is a new line planned of Noida Metro Line, from knowledge park II of Aqua Line to Airport. Apart from Delhi in the world, there are some major cities where multiple operational airports are there, some big example are New York City and London.

Let's see London's one, this is the busiest city airport system on the basis of passengers traffic number, Greater London has 6 active commerical airports with total 18 crore passengers/ year. Out of them Heathrow Airport is the biggest, then Gatwick Airport, then the rest comes. Whereas New York has 7 commercial Airports with 14 Crore yearly passenger, but only 3 of them are major Airports.JFK, JFK, Newark, JFK, Newark, and LaGurdia. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

Building multiple Airport in a city is a good idea or not? The reason has been similar as with the Delhi Airport, reducing congestion from the airport and nearby areas, difficulty in expansion. Though it has its benefits, dividing traffic, ease of congestion, and competition in between the airports, through which the passengers had lower prices, better services and more options.

Better accessability is also a benefit, it is located in parts of different locations of different airport city, so the passengers uses their nearby airports more. There are some disadvantages of multiple airports, efficiency gets reduced, because some of the facilities and services are duplicated in different airports. There is no economic of scale it is complicated to manage ATC, London is a good example, because of having 6 commercial airports, the air space structure is very complicated.

Coordinating between different airports and ensuring that the air traffic management system that they maintain the safety and efficiency which is quite difficult. Apart from this, Interconnection problems also come, suppose someone has a layover in that city where there are multiple airports and flights land in one airport and take off from another.

then it is difficult to transfer from one airport to another. There is a need for reliable connections to multiple airports through the help of express railway lines. Apart from this few people get confused, sometimes they will book flights from the wrong airport where it will be difficult for them to reach. London has taken some measures to solve this issue like, diverse airport roles, London's Airport serves different roles like, Heathrow is a major International hub There is a mixture of leisure and business traffic in Gatwick, London City Airport is mostly focused on business travel, and Lutan and Stansted are mostly popular for low cost carriers. Why India is Building Its Largest Airport

There is some benefit from such specialization because different passengers get spread out to different airports. We can also take such lessons from London, so that we can manage IGI and Noida International Airport well.

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