Delhi residents to get AC e-bus link to Noida airport soon

New Delhi: Residents of Delhi are set to get convenient access to Noida International Airport (NIA) through AC electric buses.
Delhi govt and NIA on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to formalise the arrangement. Transport minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said the e-bus service will operate from Sarai Rohilla, Anand Vihar and Kamla Market. The frequency and the routes will be decided later, a senior official said.
"The buses will not drop passengers at a location near the airport, but will go to the airport terminal," he added.
At present, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) operates bus services to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. It also maintains bus services between Delhi and Noida across 12 routes, extending to Electronic City.
The administration plans to introduce buses initially as a trial run to assess daily passenger traffic. More buses will be added after one or two months of evaluation. Women can travel without charge using ‘pink passes' while men may face a modest fare increase. The authorities will finalise ticket prices shortly. Existing concessions for differently-abled persons will remain valid on the airport routes.
The buses will be equipped with air-conditioning, GPS, panic buttons and fire extinguishers to ensure passenger safety. The transport department will retire 200 ageing buses by the end of the month and incorporate 900 e-buses into the fleet.
Meanwhile, UP govt has directed the NIA concessionaire to expedite work so that domestic flight operations can begin from May 15 and international flights by June 25. The directive was issued on March 10 during a review meeting held by CM Yogi Adityanath with stakeholders.
Currently, the airport is running six months behind schedule. Its original deadline was Sept 29, 2024, which was revised to April 2025. Since it's set to miss the April date, officials said CM told them to follow the terms of the contract agreement on delay penalties and impose the stipulated fine of Rs 10 lakh per day on concessionaire YIAPL.