Noida international airport in Jewar will have a fully electric fleet of ground service equipment and offer passengers a paperless digital-driven experience as it targets opening by April 2025, its chief executive officer, Christoph Schnellmann, said.
Work on New Delhi Capital Region's second airport is progressing well and validation flights will be held in December to test arrival and departure procedures for aircraft.
In the first phase the airport will have a single runway and annual passenger handling capacity of 12 million.
"Our ground-handling partner Bird Group will ensure to employ a fully electric fleet of ground service equipment. This will help reduce the carbon footprint at the airport, paving the way for more sustainable operations," Schnellmann said.
Ground service equipment includes aircraft pushback tractors, baggage tractors, and cargo loaders, among others. While conventional equipment is mostly powered by diesel, airports globally are transitioning to to greener means.
"The airport website will be responsive and enable passengers to access all features on their mobile devices. The airport will feature self bag drops and self-boarding. All gates will be DigiYatra-enabled, which will allow swift and secure biometric-based travel. These innovations, combined with our user-friendly infrastructure, will ensure a seamless passenger experience," he added.
On the construction front, Schnellmann said the passenger terminal building is taking shape and the installation of the baggage handling system is nearing completion. The final layer of the runway has been completed and the installation of airfield ground lighting is underway.
The airport has signed agreements with IndiGo and Akasa Air for network development and is seeing strong interest from other domestic and foreign airlines, he added.
Originally the airport was slated to open by December-end but the deadline has been pushed back by four months due to delays in delivery of construction equipment and materials.