# Noida International Airport Pursues DGCA CAT III Certification for Low-Visibility Landings > Noida International Airport is working toward DGCA CAT III certification on its 3,900-metre runway to cut fog diversions. - Published: 2026-11-13T20:37:21+00:00 - Section: Regulation & Approvals - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-13/noida-airport-cat-iii-certification - Source: [The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/noida-airport-eyes-cat-iii-certification-to-help-ease-flight-operations-if-fog-hits-delhi-this-winter/articleshow/135815637.cms) ## Key takeaways - Noida International Airport is pursuing DGCA certification for CAT III landings on its 3,900-metre runway equipped with ILS and aeronautical ground lighting. - The airport recorded 20,522 passengers in the first 15 days of operations after domestic flights began on June 15. - IndiGo and Akasa Air operate 35 daily flights connecting the airport to 16 cities. [Noida International Airport](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00hjjtb/noida-international-airport) is working toward Directorate General of Civil Aviation certification for CAT III landings, which allow aircraft to land in extremely low visibility, vice-chairperson Christoph Schnellmann told [The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/noida-airport-eyes-cat-iii-certification-to-help-ease-flight-operations-if-fog-hits-delhi-this-winter/articleshow/135815637.cms) on Friday. The airport, which began operations on June 15, has a 3,900-metre runway with an Instrument Landing System and a complete aeronautical ground lighting system. ## Noida Airport's CAT III Certification Push Schnellmann said the systems needed for CAT III operations are in place. "With the systems in place, we are working through the certification process with DGCA for CAT III operations," he said. The airport did not comment on how soon the certification is likely, leaving unclear whether flights will operate under extreme fog this winter. Before issuing the certificate, the [Directorate General of Civil Aviation](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0004155/directorate-general-of-civil-aviation) must conduct inspections and trial runs to establish whether the runway, lighting, instrument landing system, aircraft operations and air traffic control can safely support landings in extremely poor visibility. The end-to-end process typically takes three to four months, depending on infrastructure readiness and regulatory flight calibration schedules. Rule 78 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, which provides for aerodrome licensing, does not make CAT III ILS certification a prerequisite for a DGCA aerodrome licence. Six airports in India, including Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, Kolkata and Bengaluru, have one or more runways DGCA-certified for CAT III operations, and all four runways at IGI Airport are CAT III-compliant. ## Noida Airport's Traffic and Route Network Noida International Airport is a greenfield multimodal airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, operated by YIAPL under a 40-year public-private partnership, with 12 million annual passenger capacity in its first phase, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The same records show commercial passenger flights began on June 15, 2026, with IndiGo operating the inaugural Lucknow flight, followed by Akasa Air on June 16 and a first Afcom Holdings cargo flight on June 17. IndiGo and Akasa Air now operate 35 daily flights connecting the airport to 16 cities, including Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, Amritsar, Jammu, Srinagar, Jaipur, Dehradun and Bhopal. Airports Authority of India data shows the airport recorded 20,522 passengers in its first 15 days of domestic operations, 76,593 in July, 58,520 in August and 55,890 in September; October figures have not been released. ## How Noida Airport Reached This Point Noida International Airport conducted its first full aircraft turnaround trial with IndiGo on June 9, a mandatory pre-launch readiness test required by the DGCA before commercial flights began on June 15, The Times of India reported. Commercial operations opened on June 22 with an IndiGo flight arriving from Lucknow and departing on the return journey, according to Construction World. In October, chief executive Nitu Samra said the airport was expanding from 5 to 16 domestic destinations with 35 daily flights and planned to start cargo operations within weeks, Financial Express reported. ## International Cargo and Passenger Flights Noida International Airport is set to commence international cargo operations in the coming weeks. The airport has begun discussions with several airlines across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and no date for international passenger flights has been confirmed. "The timelines and scope of international passenger operations will be guided by regulatory approvals, market dynamics and the network plans of our airline partners," Schnellmann said. ## Companies in this story - [Noida International Airport company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00hjjtb/noida-international-airport) · website: https://www.niairport.in - [Directorate General of Civil Aviation company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0004155/directorate-general-of-civil-aviation) · website: https://www.dgca.gov.in/digigov-portal --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt