Built in the Portuguese style, the first phase of the airport would be able to handle 4.4 million passengers annually.
Goa: The Manohar Parrikar International Airport at Mopa in North Goa began operations on Thursday giving the much required boost to airlines and tourism that demanded a second airport in Goa owing to the rising demand of tourism and this airport is also expected to give further push to the socio-economic development to the coastal state. The first phase of the Mopa airport would be able to handle 4.4 million passengers annually and will add capacity gradually in phases and the airport after its full development will be able to handle 33 million passengers per year.
Mopa airport has begun its operation with domestic flights from Thursday, the first flight to land at the airport was the Hyderabad to Goa IndiGo flight that was welcomed with a water cannon salute at the new airport terminal.
The new Goa airport has been designed and built in a manner that gives the architectural feel of old Goa. The departure terminal has several colour painted walls that gives a replica of the old Portuguese style houses in Goa. The ceiling of the airport has been designed in a manner that gives an impression of sea waves and have lit in blue colour to replicate the colour of clear blue sea water in Goa.
The food court inside the departure terminal has also been curated in the guise of food shacks that are predominant in the beaches of Goa and are popularly thronged by tourists. Apart from this the airport will also have a flea market that is popular in Goa where artisans from across the state would be able to come and display their local goods for travellers inside the airport terminal building.
“The New Goa airport will provide passengers and visitors an experience and feel of Goa the moment they land. The use of bright hues of red, blue, green and yellow with white borders on the walls replicates the look and feel of old Goa. The food court recreates the charm of a typical Goan café, with the walls painted in bright colours and the counters made of tin-glazed blue-and-white Azulejos tiles. There is also a huge art installation at the airport made of recycled bottles, depicting a theme of ‘marigold flowers,” GMR officials told the press at the Mopa airport.
The 2,132 acres, the New Goa Airport has been built by GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL), a wholly owned subsidiary of GMR Airports Limited (GAL). It is a State-of-the-Art 24x7x365 international airport serving all the segments of inbound and outbound tourism.
This airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022 with the objective to give much need boost to tourism and socio-economic development to the coastal state that for long have been demanding a full time airport for the state. The old Dabolim airport in South Goa is a naval air base given restricted use for commercial purposes and is operated by the Airports Authority of India. However, the Dabolim airport has no flight operations in the morning hours as the navy uses the airbase for training and monitoring purposes.
However, the new Mopa airport has been given the facility of 18 check-in counters and 4 self-baggage drop facilities, 12 Immigration and 8 Emigration Counters, independent air navigation infrastructure, adequate in-flight catering services, 14 parking bays with five aerobridges, adequate night parking facilities for aircraft which was not possible at the Dabolim airport. This airport has one main 3.5 km long and 60 metres wide code 4E compliant runway that can handle even the world’s largest aircraft like Airbus A380 or equivalent.
The airport has also built an expansive cargo terminal that would be capable to handle 25,000 Metric Tonne of cargo and this is expected to give a major boost to the development for the state as Goa is surrounded by multiple states where no such facility is available and Goa could soon develop as a cargo hub for the neighbouring coastal districts of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
R.V. Sheshan, CEO, GGIAL, said, “At GGIAL, we will work towards making the New Goa International Airport an airport of choice for airlines, passengers and other stakeholders, by unlocking the true potential of Goa. It will serve the needs of the growing tourism industry in Goa along with ensuring a fillip to the state’s GDP. We are confident that the New Goa International Airport will offer a plethora of employment and tourism opportunities, promoting socio-economic development in Goa.” The New Goa Airport will be a zero-carbon footprint airport, with installed solar power plants, solid waste management systems and management of Green House Gases from the aircraft.