NEW DELHI, Oct 27: The new Mopa airport in Goa has received the aerodrome licence
from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The greenfield airport
in North Goa is being developed by GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL),
a subsidiary of GMR Airports Limited.
Mopa will solely handle the civilian traffic while the existing international
airport at Dabolim operated by the Airports Authority of India is facing air
traffic congestion as it is also shared by the Indian Navy. Mopa is 35 km from
Panjim.
Scheduled commercial flight operations are likely to commence at Mopa within
the next two months.
Only 70 flights land at the Dabolim airport a day as no landing is permitted
from 9 am to 2 pm. With the Mopa airport, the number of flights landing in Goa
will go up to 150.
GMR said the airport will be a full-service airport catering to domestic and
international passenger besides freight services. It will begin operations with
a single runway. However, it will handle large aircraft like B777, B787 and
A330. The landing trials were completed last month.
It is being built in four phases. The first phase will handle 4.4 million passengers
annually.
The GGIAL will have the right to operate the airport for 40 years, extendable
by another 20 years as it is built under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model.
Eight million tourists visit Goa
Around eight million domestic and international tourists visit Goa annually.
Mopa airport is expected to draw more tourists.
The small State of Goa along the western coast of India is a tourist paradise
with its pristine beaches and Portuguese buildings. Portuguese architecture
had a great influence on the functional and aesthetic designs of buildings within
the State as well as outside like Kerala. Goa was a Portuguese colony till it
was liberated in 1961. The extant 17th century churches speak of a rich, ancient,
imported civilisation. November to February is the best time to visit Goa. It
is cool. After that soon it is summer followed by the monsoon. Konkani is the
main language but English is like native.
