India's home ministry keeps foreign CEO ban, complicates Noida launch
Noida International Airport's launch is facing a hiccup: India's home ministry just said no to letting foreign nationals be CEOs at new airports, sticking with the rule that only Indian citizens can hold the top job for security reasons.
This puts Christoph Schellmann, the current Swiss CEO, in a tough spot and creates new hurdles for getting flights off the ground.
Noida airport stalled, security approvals pending
Even though Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the airport in March, actual operations are stalled.
The airport still needs key security approvals and its CEO hasn't cleared all required checks yet.
Efforts to change this Indian-only CEO rule have been ongoing since 2022 but haven't worked out so far, meaning Noida Airport's management has more red tape to cut before passengers can start flying.