New Delhi: Zurich AG has prepared itself for slower-than-expected growth at Noida International Airport. Multiple factors like the last-minute pullout by one of the three launch airlines, airlines going through a rough patch because of oil prices, Delhi’s IGI Airport operating way below its existing capacity, its own connectivity problems have meant its air traffic in the first two months of operations is much lower than.Zurich Airport International AG is the primary developer and concessionaire of Noida airport, which began domestic passenger operations on June 15.In its outlook for NIA, Zurich AG has said: “Slower ramp up expected due to challenging geopolitical environment with near-time performance remaining subject to elevated uncertainty. Route network will continue to expand with international services expected to follow. Strong confidence in the long-term growth potential and attractive fundamentals of the Indian aviation market.”It said NIA saw 104 flights and 25,000 passengers in June. This rose to 1,044 flights and 77,000 passengers in July. The airport’s HY 16 EBIDTA (core financial earning) loss is estimated at about $3 million.IndiGo is the biggest operator by a distance at Nodia airport, with Akasa having a few flights. Air India Express, which was to be the third launch airlines, had pulled out due to mounting losses of the AI group. Setting up a new base means incurring significant expense, something AI wanted to avoid at this point of time.Before AI Express pulled out, Noida airport had expected a footfall of around 60 lakh passengers in the first year, half of its annual capacity. Averaged, this would be 5 lakh passengers a month in the first year. The actual July footfall is well below these estimates.The going was never going to be easy for Noida airport. It’s the only instance of a second international airport opening in an Indian urban conglomerate without either the existing hub operating to capacity (like Mumbai CSMIA), being constrained (like Goa Dabolim) or the older one shutting down (like Bengaluru HAL, Hyderabad Begumpet and Visakhapatnam after Bhogapuram opens in a couple of months)The new airports in Hyderabad and Bengaluru are almost as far as Delhiites find NIA to be but travellers simply didn’t have any option but to trudge the distance. Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad, however, have an option in IGIA that’s closer, better connected and has affordable multi-modal transport.When it was coming up amid the boom post-Covid boom in air travel, Noida airport was expected to have a tough time till 2030 when IGIA was to saturate by reaching its peak capacity of about 13-14 crore passengers annually (CPA). IGIA currently has a capacity of 11 CPA but handled less than 8 crore passengers last year. It handles about 1,300 flights daily, way short of the 1,550 seen during the G20 summit in Delhi.Noida airport, therefore, will have to compete with IGIA for traffic. Though peak-hour slots are its USP traffic, connectivity of the airport with the rest of NCR may prove a dampener. What has also gone against the new airport is that it opened at a time when Indian carriers are reeling under the triple impact of finding lucrative western routes become unviable for them due to closure of Pakistan airspace since last April, the US-Iran war sending oil prices flaring, and the rupee weakening. As a result, they are cutting flights.
