It was not a usual Monday morning for Babu Lal. He was elated to fly for the first time. “We could have never thought that we would be flying in an airplane, let alone from an airport built on our land,” said the 72-year-old from Kishorpur village in Gautam Budhha Nagar’s Jewar. Around 8:30 am, Noida International Airport’s (NIA) maiden flight took off for Lucknow. Onboard the special IndiGo flight was a delegation — people whose land was acquired for the airport, including farmers such as Babu Lal — headed to meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

On the commencement of operations, Union Minister for Civil Aviation 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. Under the guidance of Yogi Adityanath, we have made special arrangements for 170 farmers, who contributed their land to this project, to travel on this inaugural flight to Lucknow following a special meeting with them.”

At the 15-acre land in Rohi village acquired in 2019 on which Rajwati (61) used to grow wheat, rice and vegetables, now stands this slick international airport, slated to be the largest airport in Asia, rivalling Dubai and Shanghai, once complete.

But she was jubilant, not because of the commencement of the airport operations, but because she was meeting her friends, who were once her neighbours but they had to relocate due to the land acquisition.

“Koi kahi chala gaya hai, koi kahi aur…(someone is here, someone is there, everyone is scattered),” she said, talking about the major shift their lives saw after land acquisition. “I still cry sometimes when I think of my land. I still go out of my house… sometimes thinking I will see my cows,” she said.

While some lamented giving up their land for the project, others were enthusiastic of the proposed development that areas around the airport are expected to see.

Happily carrying a certificate, which said Nikshipta Chhonkar’s ‘First Flight’, Sachin Singh (27) arrived at the airport with his parents, wife and daughter for a flight to Amritsar. “I always wanted a memory like this with my daughter… so we booked a family vacation to Amritsar, which was among the first flights out of Noida,” said Singh, whose land in Thora village was taken for Phase 2 of the airport.

On the certificate, which he wanted to get signed by the pilot, he said, “It will be a memory for her… that her first flight was among the first to fly out of the airport built on our land.”

The airport, which was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in March, is the second international airport in the National Capital Region. Initially, flights from Noida International Airport will connect passengers to five destinations across the country: Amritsar, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jammu and Navi Mumbai. By the end of this year, international flight operations are expected to begin.

NIA projects to have 5 million passengers within 10-12 months, while international flights are slated to begin before the year ends. Construction activities on the second phase are expected to begin before the end of this decade. “In total, operations for four destinations are commencing today from the airport after much anticipation. Looking around, I see a great deal of emotion and excitement here for an airport that is destined to be among the top five in our country,” Naidu said.

Among the passengers on first day was Sanjay Ganesan (58), who had missed the first flight from Navi Mumbai airport earlier due to some confusion with his tickets. “I was extra cautious about not missing this one,” Ganesan, an aviation enthusiast hailing from Kerala said. He was among the passengers who landed at Noida on the first arriving flight from Lucknow. Most of the passengers on the flight were aviation enthusiasts who wanted to fly in on the first flight to this mega airport.