Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seems to be making Jewar Airport the biggest airport in the world by asking to double the number of runways to eight and could compete with Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, which currently has seven runways.
The proposal was made was during the chief minister's trip to Noida on June 14. The original plan was to have four runways, one more than Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport. PricewaterhouseCoopers had carried out a survey for the feasibility of building four runways. The Indian government was looking for another study of the land to increase the runways to six. Now, with Yogi Adityanath's new proposal, there may be new plans to expand the airport.
The ambitious project is set to be completed in a couple of years since many reports state that Delhi's IGI airport will reach its saturation point by 2024.
Phase 1 of the project will feature two runways and the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) will send the proposal for eight runway airport to the state government, reports Times of India.
"Jewar airport will begin with two runways in the first phase. The civil aviation ministry had written for an expansion of four to six runways for which we had issued a letter to PwC on May 29 to conduct a feasibility report. In the meantime, the CM, who was in town on June 14 for a review meeting, directed that we look into the airport expansion to have eight terminals," Shailendra Bhatia, additional CEO of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) told TOI.
She added, "Though there's nothing final on the eight-runway plan as we have not received a government order, will initiate a feasibility study on it once PwC submits its report on expanding the runways from four to six."
The YEIDA will first have to acquire 1239.94 hectares from 3,000 farmers to build the first phase of the airport. For a functional airport, the land will have to be seized from 5000 farmers.
"The chief minister has given a green signal for eight runways. But we will prepare our proposal on the additional runways only after 1239.94 acres are acquired for the initial two runways. Once the land assessment is done, we will prepare a proposal the additional two runways for requisite approvals from the state government so that we can take this proposal forward," Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of the YEIDA, told Hindustan Times.
