Commercial operations at the Noida International Airport are expected to begin within 45 to 60 days, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Saturday, indicating that the final preparatory steps are underway, reported PTI.The greenfield airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated earlier in the day by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a key milestone for one of the country’s largest aviation infrastructure projects.Naidu said services would commence in the next 45 to 60 days, adding that work on the airport’s security framework is currently in progress. He also noted that IndiGo has expressed interest in operating flights from the facility.The project, located in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, is designed to initially handle 12 million passengers annually. Once all four phases are completed, the capacity is expected to scale up to 70 million passengers per year.Developed at an investment of around Rs 11,200 crore in its first phase, the airport will be operated by Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, under a public-private partnership model. The airport code assigned to it is ‘DXN’.The infrastructure includes a 3,900-metre runway capable of accommodating wide-body aircraft, along with modern navigation systems such as the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and advanced airfield lighting.Although passenger services were earlier slated to begin in September 2024, the rollout has been aligned with phased development. The airport received its aerodrome licence from aviation regulator DGCA earlier this month.In the initial phase, the airport will be able to handle up to 30 flights per hour and will have 28 aircraft stands. Cargo handling capacity is projected at around 2.5 lakh tonnes.Terminal 1 spans 1,37,985 square metres and includes 48 check-in counters. In addition, more than 40 acres have been allocated for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities.As part of this, NIA has entered into a strategic partnership with Akasa Air to develop an MRO facility at the site.