Indian carriers need not shy away from competition: Noida Int'l Airport CEO

"Our business case is based on the premise of growth. It is in our interest and everyone else to see growth in domestic and international traffic," he said

India has strong, successful, and high-quality airlines that need not be shy of competing with foreign airlines, Christoph Schnellmann, chief executive officer of Noida International Airport (NIA), said at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2023 on Wednesday.

Schnellmann commented in response to a question on international traffic rights.

Countries such as Oman, Kuwait, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates have urged India to allow additional flights. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has made it clear that there will be no increase in traffic rights for these countries at the moment. While such a move will benefit Indian carriers, this can slow down the growth of airports which depend on both Indian and foreign airlines for passenger and cargo traffic.

“Our business case is based on the premise of growth. It is in our interest and everyone else to see growth in domestic and international traffic,” he added.

Construction of the first phase of NIA (also known as Jewar International Airport) is underway and the airport is expected to be operational by the end of 2024. Initially, NIA will have an annual capacity of 12 million passengers and will predominantly handle domestic airlines. The airport management is looking to attract international traffic as well.

Noida airport has also sought a separate “point of call status”. When an airport is designated as a point of call in an air services agreement, it means a foreign airline can operate flights to it. This is subject to available seat entitlements under such agreements.

“We are working with the civil aviation ministry on this so that additional capacity is provided, not just for domestic but international flights as well,” said Schnellmann.

“We are also actively engaging with airlines and other stakeholders to understand their growth ambitions so that we can create infrastructure to support growth,” he added.

The upcoming airport is also working on digital platforms to provide a seamless experience to customers and improve efficiencies. One such facility would be pre-purchase at food and retail outlets via digital means.

Schnellmann said bids will be issued in a few weeks to select retail and food and beverage concessionaires at the airport.

Touchless & Seamless

·         The upcoming Noida International Airport will look to provide a touchless and seamless journey for customers in as transparent way as possible

·         The airport, coming up at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh and also the second airport in the National Capital Region, is expected to start operations late next year