The Noida International Airport, Jewar, is slowing moving towards the finishing line before it opens door in April 2025. The Greenfield project, likely to be India’s largest airport so far, has introduced technologies that will set precedence in achieving carbon neutral, sustainable and net zero goals. Christoph Schnellmann, CEO, Noida International Airport, shares an update with Clean India Journal on the latest developments in keeping with the set goals.
In keeping with the sustainability goals given by our PM, what are the initiatives taken towards carbon footprint, water conservation, ESG, and net zero?
At Noida International Airport, we are committed to developing a world-class airport with a strong focus on environmentally conscious development and an ambitious Net Zero Emission philosophy. Sustainability has been an important consideration for airport design from the outset and some of the key criteria based on which we selected the airport’s planning and design teams, construction partners, and concessionaires.
In the terminal, passive measures such as natural lighting, natural ventilation, and glare protection will help improve the passenger experience and reduce the CO2 footprint and energy costs. There are plans to implement technologies and processes like the use of green (renewable) electricity, rainwater harvesting, onsite waste management plant, sewage treatment plant, EV charging infrastructure, and electric ground support equipment among others.
Special precautions have been taken during construction to reduce the impact on the environment. There are over 580 trees that have been transplanted at the construction site with over 133 hectares of green area planned within the airport. Additionally, our EPC contractor has leveraged breakthrough technology from Nanogence Catalyst, which is a patented smart activator that enhances the binding efficiency of cementitious material, providing high material performance while incorporating reducing carbon emissions.
How would you redefine the role of a new airport in the present context?
We are a committed partner for India’s growth, and we see tremendous opportunity to invest and support India’s national agenda through infrastructural development and job creation. NIA will provide the much-needed aviation infrastructure in the Delhi NCR and Western Uttar Pradesh acting as a catalyst for infrastructure development, economic growth, and employment opportunities in the region.
NIA will play an important role in fostering and promoting tourism in the region. With its strategic location, it will add airport capacity to the region and complement the existing aviation infrastructure catering to the people of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Agra, Faridabad, and neighbouring areas. The airport will provide easy access to pilgrimage and tourist destinations including Agra, the Buddhist circuit, Mathura, and Vrindavan to name a few. This could lead to an increase in revenue for the local tourism industry, as well as create new job opportunities.
Additionally, the cargo and logistics infrastructure at the airport will facilitate efficient connectivity and seamless transportation of goods between industries and global markets, creating a cargo gateway for Northern India.
What are the new technologies that have been introduced in your airport in terms of traffic management systems, traffic safety, logistics, 5G, and transportation?
Noida International Airport will provide quick, efficient processes at the best value to passengers, airlines, and logistics partners. NIA will combine Indian design and hospitality with Swiss technology and efficiency to design a customer-first, hassle-free environment.
A state-of-the-art digital platform will ensure that NIA reaches its guests on all digital touchpoints and can always provide the right information such as flight information, wayfinding, F&B opening times, and much more.
We have selected SITA’s Airport Management System to help automate and streamline the operations of the airport. The agreement includes the provision and operation of systems to allocate gates and counters, boarding bridges, manage traffic flows on the airfield as well as display flight information to passengers. SITA will help Noida International Airport with reliable flight information and planning capabilities.
For the passenger processing system, NIA has signed an agreement with Amadeus, to design, supply, commission, operate, and maintain the cloud-hosted end-to-end PPS. Amadeus will provide a host of smart and modern capabilities including common-use check-in, boarding, baggage reconciliation, and DigiYatra-enabled biometric capabilities to enable smooth passenger experiences.
What is the number of service providers engaged?
We have established multiple collaborations over the last couple of years, notably partnering with IndiGo as the airport’s inaugural carrier. We have also entered a strategic collaboration with Akasa Air, which will base aircraft at the airport and operate domestic as well as international routes.
We have brought on board several crucial partners, including TajSATS for an in-flight catering facility, Amadeus for passenger processing (PPS), SITA’s Airport Management System (AMS) to help automate and streamline the operations of the airport, ICAD Holding Ltd. as Master System Integrator (MSI) consultant, and Air India SATS (AISATS) for a multi-modal cargo hub at the airport.
We have selected Roseate Hotels and Resorts to develop the first airport hotel. The hotel with 220 well-appointed rooms will be a whole new concept featuring intelligent technology like smartphone access and services especially designed to cater to the evolving demands and expectations of global leisure and business travellers.
Recently we awarded the concession for retail and duty-free to a consortium of Heinemann Asia Pacific and BWC Forwarders Private Limited which includes the concession for duty-free, to be operated by Heinemann, as well as master concessions for domestic retail and international duty-paid retail, to be operated by BWC Forwarders.
We look forward to more such collaborations as we move closer to the commercial operations of the airport.
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