With the government refusing to grant the requisite security clearance to the expat chief executive of the recently-inaugurated Noida International Airport (NIA), the airport has made changes to its leadership structure and appointed its chief financial officer as the interim CEO.
With this move, the airport—located in Jewar in Uttar Pradesh—hopes to get the final clearance for starting commercial operations. Aviation industry experts believe that the airport could now see flight operations within a few weeks.
“Noida International Airport today announced changes to its leadership structure. This change follows directions issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that the Chief Executive Officer of an airport in India is required to be an Indian national. With immediate effect, Nitu Samra has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis, until the Board of Directors can conclude a formal selection process,” the airport said.
Christoph Schnellmann, the Swiss national who has led the airport as CEO since August 2020, will join the NIA’s board of directors as executive vice chairman. The NIA said that in his new role, Schnellmann will continue to “support the project and its transition to operations”. Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), an arm of Switzerland-based Zurich Airport International AG has developed the NIA, and will also be operating it.
Reason behind leadership rejig
The airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28; it had received its aerodrome license on March 6. Yet, there was no clarity on when it will start commercial operations. Its aerodrome security programme (ASP) is still pending.
The CEO’s security clearance from BCAS is a prerequisite for the airport to start commercial operations.But according to a 2011 aviation security order by BCAS, the “chief executive officer of Indian nationality” at greenfield airports shall be the security coordinator of the airport and shall be responsible for coordinating the implementation of security measures. This effectively bars foreign nationals from holding the CEO’s post at airports.
Passangers Boarding Bridge at Noida International Airport, Jewar. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)
According to sources, BCAS had sought approvals for changes in the rules from the Ministry of Home Affairs, but the government doesn’t appear to be in favour of granting any relaxation. Without Schnellmann’s security clearance in place, the NIA had to appoint an Indian national as the CEO in order to get all the requisite approvals to start commercial flight operations.
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Move expected to expedite launch of operations
Samra, who has been the NIA’s CFO since October 2021, has been overseeing the project’s financials, governance, and strategic planning during the key initial development phase of the project. Her taking interim charge as CEO is expected to remove the last hurdle for Delhi-NCR’s second airport to start flight operations. Moreover, as executive vice chairman, Schnellmann is expected to remain instrumental in the project.
“…the goal was to enable the start of operations as early as possible. This management change brings the airport into compliance with Bureau of Civil Aviation Security requirements while maintaining continuity in the airport’s leadership team. The newly structured team will support a smooth transition into operations, guided by clear and transparent governance and a strong corporate culture,” said YIAPL Chairman Daniel Bircher.
Located in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar, the NIA will serve as the second airport for Delhi-NCR and parts of western Uttar Pradesh. It is located around 80 km away from central Delhi and about 60 km from central Noida. The airport has already faced considerable delays in its construction phase, and the delay in its ASP had added to the wait.
Initially, the NIA is expected to operate under the shadow of the much larger primary airport in the region—Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). In the long run, along with IGIA, the NIA is expected to cement Delhi NCR position as India’s primary aviation hub.
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IGIA—India’s largest airport with three terminals and four runways—still has scope for expanding its passenger handling as well as flight capacity. IGIA plans to expand its passenger handling capacity to around 125 million over the next few years from the current 105 million.
So, NIA will have the challenge, or the opportunity, of building demand for itself initially as it competes with the formidable IGIA. After a few years though, when the IGIA is saturated, NIA most certainly will become the driver as well as the beneficiary of aviation growth in the region. Notably, Delhi is the biggest hub for leading Indian carriers IndiGo and Air India.
The location of NIA — quite far away from large urban settlements — will be a challenge initially in the absence of rapid multi-modal connectivity. The airport, while having expressway connectivity, is at a significant distance from Delhi as well as Noida. Although there are plans to have rapid rail and metro connectivity for the NIA, those projects will take a few years to be completed. According to some experts, this would mean that NIA could find it difficult to attract passengers beyond its immediate catchment area till it has a rapid rail and metro network.
In the long term though, NIA’s location away from densely populated areas could mean better capacity expansion potential. NIA’s location also positions it as a major air cargo and logistics hub in north India in the future.
