After the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi NCR is set to enter the age of dual airports, with the inauguration of the Noida International Airport (NIA) in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar. Globally, numerous megacities have had successful dual airports systems or even multi-airport systems with two or more airports serving a metropolitan region and its nearby areas. New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Istanbul, Shanghai, and Bangkok are some notable examples. Delhi and Mumbai, the biggest aviation hubs of the third-largest and fast-growing major aviation market globally, however, were not on that list until recently.With the Navi Mumbai International Airport’s (NMIA) inauguration in October and launch of commercial operations from December, India’s financial capital became the first Indian megacity to be served by two major airports, bringing the much-needed additional capacity to the region given the capacity-constrained Mumbai airport. On Saturday, Delhi NCR will enter the club with NIA’s inauguration; commercial operations are expected to start in a few weeks. Although not a city or major metropolitan region, Goa has had two airports since early 2023.Alternate airports as new drivers of aviation growthNMIA and NIA are expected to help accelerate the growth the Mumbai and Delhi as large global aviation hubs with two large airports apiece. From allowing pent-up demand to be served by bringing in much-needed capacity—particularly in the case of MMR—these new airports are also expected to develop and expand their own catchment areas. And they come at a time when Indian airlines –IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa Air—are going to add scores of new aircraft over the coming years, deepening air connectivity and densifying networks.“The older airports in the MMR and the NCR are operating at close to their design capacity, with combined utilisation at 87% last fiscal. Also, they have limited options for large expansionary capital expenditure due to space constraints. The alternate airports in metros are expected to cater to 20-25% of the total traffic in their regions by fiscal 2030, ensuring viability of these airports, as demand for air travel grows and connectivity to these airports improves,” Ankit Hakhu, Director, Crisil Ratings was quoted as saying in a note released by the ratings agency last month.Also Read | A perfect storm: Why gold prices are down after 2025’s historic surgeAccording to Crisil, India’s operational and upcoming alternate airports—Mopa (Goa), NMIA, and NIA—are expected to have an annual capacity of around 40 million passengers by the end of this year, and they are poised to cater to 45-50 million passengers annually by 2030. Overall, airport traffic in India is projected to rise from around 415 million passengers in the current financial year to ab 580 out million by fiscal 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 8-9%, “driven by strong economic activity, untapped demand and easing of airport capacity constraints at select metros”, the ratings agency said.“…alternate airports are not without risks. Traffic could fall short of expectations if supporting infrastructure connectivity progresses slower than anticipated, constraining accessibility and catchment expansion. Competitive intensity could also rise where the incumbent and new operators of the dual airports are different. Additionally, any delays in aircraft deliveries may affect airline capacity deployment at the alternate airports,” said Gauri Gupta, Team Leader, Crisil Ratings.NIA and NMIA: Similar, yet differentBoth NMIA and NIA are second airports that will initially operate under the shadow of the much larger primary airports serving the MMR and NCR. Yet, there are some key differences between the two that are bound to shape the manner and scale of their operations, at least in the initial few years of operations. While NMIA is bound to have a strong start with a rapid scale-up, NIA may be relatively slow on these counts initially. In the long run, though, it is expected to cement Delhi NCR position as India’s primary aviation hub.Story continues below this adMumbai’s primary airport—Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA)—is already saturated, which means that there is little capacity that can be added there given the space constraint, and the fact that any given point in time, only one of its two intersecting runways can operate. This essentially means that any additional capacity in the MMR must come from NMIA. This is a boon of sorts for NMIA, as airlines looking to expand their network in and out of the financial capital must do so through the new airport, providing it with almost ready demand and traffic.Also in Explained | India’s new climate targets are modest, but significant. Here’s whyHowever, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport—India’s largest airport with three terminals and four runways—still has scope for expanding its passenger handling as well as flight capacity and is not as terribly congested as CSMIA. 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.Sure, there would be a ready catchment for the NIA as well—flyers from Western Uttar Pradesh and some other parts of the NCR that solely relied on IGIA—but the existing Delhi airport has unmatched size, scale, and destination network that the Jewar airport will take a while to build. It is also worth noting that IGIA and NIA, unlike CSMIA and NMIA, will be run by different operators—IGIA by GMR and NMIA by Zurich Airport, which would add to the competitive streak. By contrast, both CSMIA and NMIA are operated by Adani Airport Holdings.Furthermore, the location of NIA—away from large urban settlements—will be a challenge in the absence of rapid multi-modal connectivity. The airport, while having expressway connectivity, is located 80 km from central Delhi, and even from central Noida, it is almost 60 km away. Although there are plans to have rapid rail and metro connectivity for the NIA, those projects will take a few years to be completed. By contrast, IGIA has excellent connectivity with two metro lines, including the express line that connects the airport to central Delhi in about 20 minutes. 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.Story continues below this adWhen it comes to NMIA, the airport is in the vicinity of large urban settlements of Navi Mumbai, and is under 40 km even from south Mumbai. From areas like Kalyan and Thane, the distance to NMIA is only a few kilometres more than that to CSMIA. MMR’s existing suburban railway network also supports connectivity to NMIA. This provides a ready and large catchment area for the airport. In the long term though, NIA’s location away from densely populated areas could mean better capacity expansion potential vis-à-vis NMIA. NIA’s location also positions it as a major air cargo and logistics hub in north India in the future.