Goa’s Dabolim airport will not be shut down for civilian use even after the new international airport at Mopa becomes fully operational, chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Wednesday
The chief minister’s statement came after his cabinet colleague Mauvin Godinho seemed to suggest that the Dabolim airport will be shut down if the services of the existing facility does not remain competitive.
“Many have expressed concerns over whether the (Dabolim) airport will shut down. I want to assure everyone that even once Mopa airport is fully operational, Dabolim airport will not shut down (for civilian use),” Sawant said.
The chief minister’s comments are seen as a reiteration of a long standing “commitment” given to the people of Goa, especially South Goa, who had been protesting for over a decade against the upcoming airport located in the far north corner of the state.
The successive governments have assured that the shifting will not affect the tourism prospects of the hotels and others who depend on tourism in the south.
Earlier, Goa’s transport minister and MLA from the Dabolim constituency said he wouldn’t want “Dabolim (airport) to suffer from any infirmities” that would make it uncompetitive with its upcoming rival, Mopa, a privately run airport.
The Opposition Congress alleged that the government was only preparing the grounds to justify the ultimate closure of the existing airport for civilian operations.
{{/usCountry}}The Opposition Congress alleged that the government was only preparing the grounds to justify the ultimate closure of the existing airport for civilian operations.
{{/usCountry}}“I had warned about Dabolim turning into a ‘ghost airport’ after Mopa Airport was commissioned. Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho has initiated a blame game which is a step towards closing operations at Dabolim. I demand Union civil aviation minister Jyothiradithya Scindia to clear the air now,” leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said.
The 2nd international airport for Goa proposed to be set up at Mopa village, 35 km from the state capital Panaji, has been opposed by activists ever since it was first conceived in May 2000. The airport was scheduled to replace Goa’s existing Dabolim airport, which is also a Navy base. However, owing to opposition, the earlier decision was modified to allow for the continuation of civilian aircraft operations at Dabolim even after the commissioning of the new airport.
The antagonists claimed the new airport at Mopa in the extreme north of Goa, from where one can literally see the Maharashtra border clearly demarcated by the Tiracol River, would sound a death knell for the businesses in the south.
The protests died down only after repeated assurances from successive governments.
Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar in particular and his predecessor Digambar Kamat of the Congress assured that both airports would remain operational for civilian traffic, despite the idea being seen as both financially and operationally inviable.
The new airport is set to cost around ₹3,300 crore of which the first phase will cost around ₹1,800 crore and will handle around 3.4 million passengers. By the fourth phase, the airport is scheduled to have a capacity of 13.1 million passengers by 2045.
While no date for its inauguration has been pencilled in, Oman Air, which runs a daily international flight between Goa and Muscat, in a message to its frequent fliers informed that it will be shifting operations to the new airport from January 1, 2023 onwards.