TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Flight operations at Dabolim airport are likely to be substantially restricted for at least two months from January 31, 2015, due to repair work of runways, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Friday.
The work on the middle portion of the runways would be taken up between 5 am to 1 pm for nearly two months, after work on the 800 mtrs runway, on either side is completed.
Parrikar said that the work on one end of the runway (around 800 mtrs) will begin from January 31 and this will be followed by repair work on the other end of the runway of the same length. He said this work would be done without affecting flight operations.
“Work on the middle portion will take eight hours and another eight hours would be needed for the fast solidifying concreting work to settle. The total time needed would be about two months. The total repairs should be over before May 2015,” he told reporters after inaugurating Union Minister Shripad Naik’s office at Paryatan Bhavan, Patto, on Friday.
The chief minister said the window for operation (for flights versus work) from 1 pm to 5 am had been “okayed” by the operators.
The re-carpeting work during the tourist season, though post-peak season, has raised apprehensions whether it would affect arrival of charters. Parrikar, however, denied this.
Tourism department, which saw 12 percent rise in the number of tourists last year, expects footfalls to go up to 15 percent this upcoming tourist season. The State is preparing for an estimated 1,400 odd charter flights to touch Goa this year up from 1,123 that came last year.
Besides these there are daily regular flights to metros.
Also with the visa-on-arrival facility expected in the next one-and-half month, the State expects increase in tourists from 16 to 18 countries in addition to nine countries already availing the facility. The new addition will include citizens from countries like Japan, Korea, various European countries and USA.
