Lucknow, June 16 -- Commercial flight operations at the Noida International Airport officially began on Monday, less than five years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project at Jewar on November 25, 2021. The inaugural IndiGo flight (6E 2278) departed from Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow, at 7.55am and landed at Jewar at 8.45am. According to airport officials, the new air corridor will drastically improve connectivity between Noida and Lucknow, offering a faster and more efficient alternative to road travel. It will be the National Capital Region (NCR)'s second major airport after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is the country's busiest airport. The Airbus A320 flight carried 182 passengers, including actor and entrepreneur Gul Panag. Onboard were representatives of around 75 leading business families from Noida, spanning real estate, IT, manufacturing, healthcare, education, hospitality, and infrastructure. The aircraft was welcomed with a traditional water cannon salute. The return flight at 10.30am carried around 170 farmers from Jewar whose land was acquired for the airport project. They later met chief minister Yogi Adityanath in the state capital, marking a symbolic recognition of their role in the project. Calling the commencement of commercial flights a historic moment, Adityanath said Jewar, once lacking basic infrastructure despite its proximity to Delhi, was now poised to emerge as a major economic hub. "Now think about it, you are going to outshine Delhi," he told the farmers. Earlier in the day, Union civil aviation minister K Ram Mohan Naidu said, "Today is a day of great joy and a historic milestone as the first flight prepares to depart from Noida International Airport." "We want to see Noida International Airport grow, not only as a transit hub or a hub for transportation, but as an aerotropolis. When we say aerotropolis, we want to see multiple industries come around this area and create a strong economic base, which is not only going to be catering to the country but also internationally," Naidu said. The airport is a major greenfield development built under a PPP model. It is operated by Yamuna International Airport Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, with construction by Tata Projects Limited. Located about 70-72 km from Delhi, it is being developed in four phases with a total investment of Rs.29,561 crore and a 40-year concession period from 2021 to 2061. Around Rs.11,000 crore was spent in the first phase. Phase 1 inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on March 28 has a capacity of 12 million passengers annually. It features a 3,900-metre runway, a 100,000-square-metre terminal, and an initial cargo capacity of 2.5 lakh metric tonnes per year. On the first operational day, in addition to Lucknow-Jewar services, an IndiGo flight also operated between Jewar and Bengaluru. A ceremonial flag-off event was held at Lucknow airport. Regular scheduled services on the Lucknow-Noida route are expected to begin from July 1, opening a key domestic aviation link for business, tourism, and economic growth across Uttar Pradesh....