Goa International Airport

Goa International Airport Dabolim Airport Aeroporto de Dabolim
The new terminal building at Goa Airport
IATA: GOI – ICAO: V0GO GOI Location of Goa Airport in India
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Owner	Goa & Indian Navy[1]
Operator	Airports Authority of India
Serves	Goa
Location	Dabolim, Mormugão, Goa,  India
Elevation AMSL	56 m / 184 ft
Coordinates	15°22′51″N 073°49′53″E / 15.38083°N 73.83139°E / 15.38083; 73.83139Coordinates: 15°22′51″N 073°49′53″E / 15.38083°N 73.83139°E / 15.38083; 73.83139
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 08/26 3,430 11,253 Asphalt
Statistics (2014-15)
Passengers 4,513,201 (16.2%) Aircraft movements 33,422 (15.6%) Freight in tonnes 4,498 (5.6%)
Source: AAI,[2][3]

Goa International Airport (IATA: GOI, ICAO: VAGO), more commonly known as Dabolim Airport, is an international airport located in the city of Dabolim in Goa, India. It is the only airport in the state and operates as a civil enclave in a military airbase named INS Hansa. It is 4 km from the nearest city Vasco da Gama, 23 km from the South Goa district headquarters of Margao, and 30 km from the capital city Panjim.^[4]

History

Dabolim Airport's departure hall

The airport was built, in 1955, by the Government of the Portuguese State of India, on 249 acres (101 ha) of land, as the Aeroporto de Dabolim, later receiving the official name of Aeroporto General Bérnard Guedes.^[5]

Until 1961, the airport served as the main hub of the Portuguese India's airline TAIP (Transportes Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa), which on a regular schedule served Daman, Diu, Karachi, Mozambique, Portuguese Timor, and other destinations.

During the Indian invasion of Goa, in December 1961, the airport was bombarded by the Indian Air Force with parts of the infrastructure being destroyed. Two civilian planes that were in the airport - a Lockheed Constellation from TAP (Portuguese International Airlines) and a Douglas DC-4 from TAIP - managed to escape with refugees, during the night, to Karachi.^[6] 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 1200 international flights per year account for some 93% of the country's international charter tourist flights. It is estimated that about 300 to 350 thousand international tourists arrive at Dabolim on charter flights. Goa's total international 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 300,000 in 2013-14 while those from Russia numbered about 49,000 (by 280 charter flights) in the same period. These were the top two international tourist categories. Charter flights booked by Russia for the current season numbered 380.

Economic factors

Waiting hall on the second floor

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 while Route Navigation Facility (RNF) Charges are 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 900 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 11,345 feet (3,458 m) as of April 2013^[7] and can 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.^[8]

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.^[9] However delays in transfer of the required land from the Navy have held up proceedings.

Structure

Model of the new integrated terminal building on display

Map of the airport.

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.^[10] The car park has since been reserved for staff vehicles. Private cars and buses have been relegated to spaces outside the airport premises.

Of the 50-60 flights daily, there is a very large concentration of civilian traffic in the period between 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm during weekdays, with the balance in the early morning hours. This is because of naval restrictions for military flight training purposes. This flight training takes place throughout the year. The huge demand during the peak Christmas/New Year tourist season results in the sharp spiking of air fares during this period.^[11] Delhi/Mumbai-Goa air fares for this period have become a bench mark of sorts at the upper end, comparable to international fares from Mumbai to Dubai and to Bangkok. Officially, night operations have been permitted and enabled since October 2007 but they have taken place only an ad hoc basis subject to the mandatory clearance of the naval ATC.

The Navy's premises straddle the Dabolim runway and consequently its personnel cross at one point (on foot or bicycles or in vehicles) between flights. One point near the terminal constrains the enlargement of aircraft parking space. Navy personnel in the Goa area number about six thousand in total, substantially larger in size than the total Goa state police force of less than four thousand.

Expansion

The modernisation project of Goa Airport was one of 35 airport expansion projects undertaken by the AAI and, in terms of size and money, was its third largest project after the ones at Chennai and Kolkata airports.^[12] It included the construction of an integrated terminal building to replace the older terminals, a multi-level car parking (MLCP) facility to accommodate between 540 to 570 cars and construction of additional parking stands for aircraft, among others. The AAI acquired additional land from the Indian Navy and the State Government for apron expansion and the expansion of the older international terminal building complex.^[13]

The foundation stone for the terminal was laid on 21 February 2009, the project work began in May 2010 and construction of the terminal began in May 2011.^[12] The terminal can handle 2,750 peak hour passengers, cost Rs. 3.45 billion and was naugurated on 3 December 2013.^[14]

The integrated building design features aesthetic glass, large steel span structures and frameless glazing. The 62,000 square metre terminal will cater to five million passengers annually. It will be equipped with 16 aerobridges, out of which, eight will be installed in the first phase. The terminal will also feature an in-line baggage scanning system and a state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant.^[15]

It has 75 check-in counters, 22 immigration counters for departures, 18 immigration counters for arrivals, 14 security check booths and 8 customs counters. The basement of the four-level terminal has utilities like electricity and cargo handling. The check-in counters are placed on the ground floor while the first floor has security check booths. The second floor has the security hold area where passengers may wait before boarding an aircraft.

The existing terminal buildings would be totally shut down for all air operations after the commissioning of the new terminal.^[16]

Terminals

Jet Airways vehicles at Dabolim

Terminal 1 – Domestic

Less than a dozen airlines compete in the domestic market. There are 132 airports in India which can be categorised in sometimes overlapping ways into public sector, private sector, civil enclaves, international, metro, and non-metro. Goa is connected to all six main cities in India: Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai & Kolkata. There are multiple flights to Mumbai per day, operated by over 5 airlines. The first Goa – Mumbai domestic flight leaves at around 0700 in the morning and the last flight leaves at around 2350.

Terminal 2 – International

Dabolim's scheduled international flights are rather limited, however these have been on the increase in recent years. These are operated to the Persian Gulf region by the state owned carrier Air India and Doha based carrier, Qatar Airways and to Kuala Lumpur through AirAsia. Foreign carriers were for long disallowed from operating scheduled flights to or from Goa, but have recently started obtaining permission to do so.

Several European charter airlines fly to Goa seasonally, typically between November and May. Flights from the UK (London Gatwick & Manchester Airport) are operated by Thomson Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

A SpiceJet Boeing 737 bound for Mumbai

A Thomson Airways Boeing 787-8 having arrived from London–Gatwick

Cargo

Statistics

By 2005, total passengers had increased to 987,700 (1944 domestic plus 762 international passengers per day, year unspecified).^[20] The figure for 2004–05 was placed at nearly 1.3 million giving a daily average of 3,467. Data for April 2005 and 2006 are given in an Airports Authority Of India report. The airport director has claimed that 2.2 million passengers used the airport in CY 2006. This rose to about 2.6 million in CY 2007. The airport is ranked among the top ten in the country in terms of passenger traffic. Airport authorities consider that it has been operating at saturation levels since 2004.

Military flight training

Military flight training at Dabolim is carried out on five days of the week from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs, during which hours civilian flights cannot operate. Some exceptions have been made on rare occasions by the naval ATC, chiefly in the case of foreign airlines. Charter airlines carrying international tourists during the season tend to use the freer civil aviation regimes on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and in the early morning hours. The blocked time is about 15% of the total on a weekly basis albeit during peak morning hours for civilian flights. Recently, the Navy released a few hours blocked in the evenings on two weekdays for civilian flights, thus easing the overall congestion being faced.

Campaign to revert to civilian status

There has been a demand in local political circles for the restoration of Dabolim's civilian status by relocating the Indian Navy' air station to the proposed Karwar airfield in the new INS Kadamba naval base at Karwar, 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Dabolim in the adjoining state of Karnataka. However, the Indian Navy's top officers in Goa have hinted that the investment at Dabolim naval air station is 7.5 billion and that it would be impossible to replicate this at Karwar.^[21]

In early 2007, there were reports of a concerted move by the Navy, the AAI, and the state of Karnataka to extend the runway planned at the naval base at Karwar to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) to accommodate Airbus A320s and to acquire 75 extra hectares for this purpose.^[22] However, there have been no corresponding plans announced so far to relocate flight training from Dabolim to this airport or any other more convenient place.

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, dormant since mid-2000, grew virulent in mid-2005 when the 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 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 through 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.^[23] 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, the 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

1. A "review" of the Union Cabinet's March 2000 decision to close Dabolim civil enclave on the opening of Mopa has been sought.
2. Mopa is being tipped as an "international" airport while Dabolim would be "domestic".
3. 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.
4. It is hoped that Dabolim civil enclave would be expanded/upgraded simultaneously.
5. Mopa Airport would be Code F or super-jumbo compatible
6. 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.

Naval Station at Dabolim

The air station of the Indian Navy at Dabolim was transferred here from the Sulur Air Force Base in Coimbatore after the annexation of Goa in December 1961. In 1983, the Indian Navy began inducting the BAE Sea Harrier into service, basing training activities at Dabolim. Now the base houses MiG-29KUBs, the tandem two-seat operational trainer variant of the carrier based MIG-29Ks. The aircraft has been inducted into the Navy with a complement of 12 MiG 29Ks that have been purchased with the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (re-fitted and refurbished Admiral Gorshkov of the Russian Navy).

A mock-up of the 283-metre (928 ft) INS Vikramaditya deck has been built at Dabolim Airport for training purposes as the aircraft carrier is slated to be based at Karwar. The move is in anticipation of a delay in delivery of the Russian aircraft carrier from 2008 to late 2013.

Besides the operation of STOVL aircraft such as the BAE Sea Harrier, the Navy also operates Kamov Ka-28 anti submarine helicopters, along with IL-38 May and TU-142M Bear aircraft. Dabolim airbase also hosts exercises by the Indian Air Force's fighter bombers and it has facilities for the Indian Coast Guard which operates a fleet of small aircraft such as Dornier-228s. The Indian Navy also carries out long range maritime patrols as far as the Horn of Africa from Dabolim using unarmed aircraft such as the Ilyushin Il-38. This activity has assumed significance recently due to a spate of pirate attacks in the area on maritime shipping involving Indian crews.

The Navy has an aerobatic team, based at Dabolim, called the Sagar Pawan. The team comprises three Kiran aircraft which carry out aerobatic displays at various locations in the country. The team is used in one or two annual public events in Goa for flypasts of 15 to 20 minutes duration. The Navy also operates a naval aviation museum near Dabolim Airport.

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 Chhatrapati Shivaji International 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.

Ground transportation

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 (2.5 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 Dabolim railway station. The port at Mormugao is located about 5 km (3.1 mi) away.

Konkan Railway provides services to Margao in South Goa, Tivim in North Goa, Carambolim, and Ponda.

Incidents and accidents

• On 1 October 2002, two Ilyushin Il-38s collided and crashed near Dabolim Airport killing 12 naval personnel in the planes and 3 civilians on the ground.^[24]
• On 15 October 2012, two pilots and a technical sailor on board a HAL Chetak helicopter of the Indian Navy were killed after the helicopter crashed whilst landing towards the eastern side of the runway.^[25]

See also

• Airports in India
• List of busiest airports in India by passenger traffic

References

External links

Media related to Goa International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Airport information for VAGO at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• Airport information for VAGO at Great Circle Mapper.
• Accident history for GOI at Aviation Safety Network