History
The airport was built by the government of the Estado da Índia Portuguesa in the 1950s on 249 acres (101 ha).[2] Until 1961 it served as the main hub for the local airline TAIP Transportes Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa, which on a regular schedule served Karachi, Mozambique, Timor, and other destinations.[3] In April 1962, it was occupied by the Indian Navy's air wing when Major General K.P. Candeth, who had led the successful military operation into Goa, "handed over" the airport to the Indian Navy before relinquishing charge as its military governor to a Lieutenant Governor of the then Union Territory of Goa in June.The earliest international (i.e. non-Portuguese) tourists to Goa may have been the flower children of the 1960s. They used the overland route, by road or rail, from Bombay (now Mumbai), detouring via Poona (now Pune), to north Goa's secluded beaches. A sea route was also available. For civilian air travel out of Vasco da Gama and Goa the Indian Navy and the Government of India invited the public sector airline (known now as Indian) to operate at Dabolim from 1966 after the runway was repaired and jet-enabled. Road and rail travel remains the mainstay of journeys between Goa and places like Mumbai and Bangalore though they take 12–15 hours nowadays (down from 24 hours at one time).
Once two vital road bridges across the main waterways of Goa were built in the early 1980s and Goa hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1983, the charter flight business began to take off at Dabolim a few years later, pioneered by Condor Airlines of Germany.
Goa's estimated 700 international flights per year account for some 90% of the country's international charter tourist flights. It is estimated that about 150 to 200 thousand foreign tourists arrive at Dabolim on charter flights. Goa's total foreign tourists (roughly double the charter passengers) account for 5-10% of the national figure and 10-15% of the country's foreign exchange receipts from tourism. As the weekend morning hours approach saturation due to waves of chartered flights especially from UK, and Russia, attention is shifting to the night and early morning hours of weekdays for accommodating such flights. Tourists from UK to Goa by air were estimated to number about 101,000 in 2007-08 while those from Russia numbered about 42,000 (by 159 charter flights) in the same period. These were the top two foreign tourist categories. Charter flights booked by Russia for the current season numbered 240.
Economic factors
Dabolim's Air traffic control is in the hands of the Indian Navy, which earns revenues from this service on account of aircraft movements. Landing fees are of the order of Rs 17,000 each. RNF is about Rs 7,400. The Airports Authority of India could be eligible for aircraft parking fees of Rs 10,000 per day. It receives a part of the passenger service fee which is shared between it and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The AAI's prime source of earning is from non-traffic services like passenger facilitation, car park, entry tickets, stalls, restaurants and shops at the main terminal building and advertising boards. With such revenues at an estimated Rs 700 million, Dabolim airport is one of only a dozen "profitable" airports of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).Capital expenditures (such as for runway expansion) at the airport are covered by AAI. The Dabolim airport runway has increased in length over the years from about 6,000 feet (1,829 m) initially to at least 7,850 feet (2,390 m) today (approx 2,370 m) [4] , and can now accommodate Boeing 747s. There is a shortage of night parking bays which are at a premium in metro airports like Mumbai. A local association has estimated that about 40 hectares are needed for the civil enclave in comparison to the 14 hectares earmarked at present.[5]
The Indian Civil Aviation Ministry announced a plan to upgrade Dabolim airport in 2006. This involved constructing a new international passenger terminal (after converting the existing one to domestic) and adding several more aircraft stands over an area of about 4 hectares (9.9 acres). The construction was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007.
Structure
The airport is spread over 688 hectares (1,700 acres) (and possibly 745 hectares or 1,840 acres) and consists of a civil enclave of nearly 14 hectares (35 acres), an increase from its original size of 6 hectares (15 acres). There are two terminal buildings operated by the public sector Airports Authority of India (AAI) which are Public Works Department (PWD) brick and mortar structures with a total floor space of 12,000 square metres (130,000 sq ft). Of this, a domestic terminal comprises 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft) and there is an international terminal that comprises 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft). The remaining space is for other service areas.The domestic terminal was built in 1983 and is designed to process 350 arrivals and departures simultaneously, while the international terminal built in 1996 is meant for 250. There are 250 paramilitary personnel stationed at the airport for security purposes. There is provision for parking 84 cars and 8 buses.[7] The car park has since been reserved for staff vehicles. Private cars and buses have been relegated to spaces outside the airport premises.
Expansions
A new integrated terminal has been planned which now is under construction. The foundation stone was laid on 21 February 2009.Terminals
- Terminal 1 - Domestic
- Terminal 2 - International
Several European charter airlines fly to Goa seasonally, typically during the winter months.
Airlines and destinations
Airlines  |
Destinations | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Aeroflot | Moscow-Sheremetyevo [seasonal] | 2 |
| Air Arabia | Sharjah | 2 |
| Air Italy Polska | Warsaw [seasonal charter] | 2 |
| Arkefly | Amsterdam [seasonal charter] | 2 |
| Condor | Frankfurt | 2 |
| Edelweiss Air | Zürich [seasonal] | 2 |
| GoAir | Delhi, Jammu, Mumbai, Srinagar | 1 |
| Indian Airlines | Delhi, Mumbai | 1 |
| Indian Airlines | Bangalore, Chennai, Dubai, Kuwait | 2 |
| IndiGo | Delhi, Mumbai | 1 |
| Jet Airways | Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai | 1 |
| JetLite | Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai | 1 |
| Kingfisher Airlines | Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune | 1 |
| Monarch Airlines | London-Gatwick, Manchester [seasonal charter] | 2 |
| Novair | Gothenburg-Landvetter, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda | 2 |
| Qatar Airways | Doha | 2 |
| SpiceJet | Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai | 1 |
| Thomas Cook Airlines | London-Gatwick, Manchester [seasonal charter] | 2 |
| Thomson Airways | East Midlands, London-Gatwick, Manchester | 2 |
| Transaero | Moscow-Domodedovo | 2 |
Statistics
| Year | Total Passengers | Total Aircraft Movements |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 758,914 | 7,584 |
| 2000 | 875,924 | 7,957 |
| 2001 | 791,628 | 8,112 |
The Mopa Option
Years ago the Navy accorded its approval to the civil aviation ministry's plans to locate a greenfield airport at Mopa in the northernmost tip of Goa. At the same time, the civil aviation ministry moved a resolution in March 2000 whereby Dabolim civil enclave would close once Mopa airport came on stream. The resolution was passed by the Union Cabinet. But opposition to such a prospect for historical and practical reasons, which was dormant since mid-2000, grew virulent in mid-2005 when ICAO submitted a report about the plans for the new Mopa "international" airport. It was felt that it would result in the closure of Dabolim civil enclave by default or by design.Plans were then drawn up to upgrade Dabolim in the meantime at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crores (Rs 5 billion) and the consultant was asked to examine the feasibility of two airports in Goa. It has since given a tentative approval to a "dual airport" solution even in conjunction with the planned Dabolim upgrade. The upgrade consists of a congeries of plans evolving from 2000/2001 and consisting of (a) partial or complete demolition of the old terminal, (b) construction of a new "integrated" terminal, (c) a dozen aircraft parking bays/night parking bays, (d) aerobridges, (e)a parallel taxi track, (f) a captive power plant and (g) a multi-storied car park.
Meanwhile the Navy's title to Dabolim airport land has been questioned by a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) of Goa in relation to the plan to relocate the civil enclave to the Mopa civilian airport on the grounds that it is the state government of Goa which authorises land transfers in its jurisdiction. He has disclosed that the Navy "literally" makes the state government and the Airports Authority of India "beg" for land needed at Dabolim airport. This made it imperative to establish the clear title to the airport land.[12] Local Navy officials brushed off this argument as inconsequential given the passage of time.
The delays were apparently due to the structuring of these Dabolim deals as land-for-land at the instance of the Navy. This is in contrast to inter-governmental adjustments based on situation-specific military security assessments and demonstrable civilian needs. In this instance, one of the main sticking points was a small but crucial bit of land over which there was a fundamental difference of opinion between the Navy and the state government. The Navy alleged that "encroachment" was involved. A clearance for the expansion from the central Public Investment Board was also pending. Here the issues were the size and scope of the plan (such as the required aeronautical clearances given existing structures) as well as who would do the work on the parallel taxi track, AAI or the Navy.
The Goa government has now officially given an "in principle" approval to the civil aviation ministry to two airports in the state. The civil aviation minister has recently been propagating the vision of an airport in every district by 2020. Goa's two airports would conceivably be consistent with this. The high-powered committee has since submitted its final recommendation for a new airport at Mopa to the Prime Minister.
In the indications dribbling out in the interim (a) a "review" of the Union Cabinet's March 2000 decision to close Dabolim civil enclave on the opening of Mopa has been sought (b) Mopa is being tipped as an "international" airport while Dabolim would be "domestic" (c) estimates of the investment in Mopa range from $205 million to $400 million and a 33,000 square metres (360,000 sq ft) passenger terminal is envisaged (d) it is hoped that Dabolim civil enclave would be expanded/upgraded simultaneously (e) Mopa airport would be Code F or super-jumbo compatible (f) the exact status of the ground transport (north-south) connectivity of the two airports is still up in the air. Meanwhile the local base commander of the Indian Navy has urged the Goa government to expedite the Mopa airport project unambiguously drawing a line on the availability of any more land for civilian purposes. However an explicit two-airport system had yet to be studied in Goa.
Air cargo
Dabolim's potential for air cargo has not yet been seriously tapped. An estimated 5,000 tonnes (5,500 short tons) of cargo were handled annually as of a few years ago and may have declined since then. Meanwhile 90% of India's air cargo is concentrated in the top six airports together with Ahmedabad. Most of the country's air cargo is carried in the belly-space of airlines such as Air India rather than in dedicated freighters. There is no worthwhile cargo complex at Dabolim especially for perishables like fish, fruits, flowers and vegetables for which there is a significant export market in the Gulf countries. Meanwhile Goa's pharmaceutical companies carry out their export/import operations via Mumbai airport. The customs staff in Dabolim's vicinity are focused on ship cargo. The Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) had been pleading for priority to air cargo for several years. The state government had even agreed, in principle, to allotting nearby land to AAI but there has been no perceptible progress in this direction.Surface transport connectivity
Passengers can reach the airport using taxis, buses, trains, or automobiles. Public buses go to the nearby city of Vasco da Gama, approximately 4 km (2 mi) away, and also stop at the closer Chicalim bus stop, about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) from the airport. Local mini-buses connect both Vasco da Gama and Chicalim to the airport. Pre-paid taxis are available from the airport. There are various new transportation plans in the works, including the addition of a second bridge. Meanwhile plans for a 6-lane, north-to-south expressway are on hold in Goa. A monorail system is also being considered. All these plans have implications for the proposed Mopa airport and its link to Dabolim and Goa's population centres.Railway tracks of Indian Railways, which also run through Goa, pass beside the airport. The nearest station is at Vasco da Gama city. The port at Mormugao is located about 5 km (3.1 mi) away.
Konkan Railway provides services to Margao in South Goa, Thivim (Tivim) in North Goa, Karmali and Ponda.
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