Jewar airport to be named Noida International airport

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given his approval to the name, design and logo of the airport proposed at Jewar which will be the second major airport in Delhi-NCR and is designed to take the load off Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The name -- Noida International Airport -- was finalized during a meeting with the Swiss company -- Zurich AG officials in Lucknow on Thursday.

Senior executives and directors of Zurich AG subsidiary -- Yamuna International Airport Private Limited -- met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the meeting in which Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of Noida International airport Limited, Christoph Schnellmann, CEO of Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, Kiran Jain, COO of Yamuna International Airport Private Limited and other officials were present.

"The Uttar Pradesh government has given its necessary approval for the design of the layout of the passenger terminal proposed by Zurich, name and logo. Now, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited will start work accordingly," said Arun Vir Singh chief executive officer of the Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), a nodal agency formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to monitor the development of this project.

The state government has given its green signal to the name -- 'Noida International airport' to be used officially.

Initially, the Swiss Company Zurich had started using the name -- Delhi Noida International airport as it helps associate with the national capital, said officials.

But the Uttar Pradesh government and NIAL had objections to this name because they wanted a name that represented Uttar Pradesh at the international level, said the officials.

"Noida is a window city of UP state and well known in international markets. By naming it after Noida, we will help in branding UP as a hub of businesses, opportunities and as a growing market for investors. Noida reminds people of UP, therefore, the state government has approved this name," said Arun Vir Singh.

The state government has handed over 1,334 hectares of land for the work to be started at the site. The state government plans to acquire 5,000 hectares of land to develop this airport to its full capacity.

The Zurich AG subsidiary has hired architects, who have finalized the layout design of the passenger terminal. During their meeting with the Chief Minister, they discussed design and other issues. The Chief Minister gave his green signal paving way for the work to be started at the site.

The state government is yet to finalize a date for inauguration of the project next year, said officials.