Herald: What are the challenges in ensuring the smooth functioning of the airport at Dabolim?
Bhupesh Negi: The biggest challenge that we are facing is the unprecedented traffic growth in the recent few years when traffic handled has grown from 3.9 million in 2013-14 to 7.65 million in 2017-18 that has led to significant constraints in the airside and terminal side. On the airside, we are facing shortage of aircraft parking space and in the terminal side, we are finding it difficult to accommodate more passengers during peak traffic period.
As you know Goa airport basically is a Defence airfield which we call a Civil Enclave/Joint User Airfield from where Indian Navy also operates. Indian Navy has its own operational/training requirements for which they also require flying slots. We have to appreciate their operational requirements also.
The airside infrastructure except the Apron where civil commercial flights are parked, rest of the areas belong to Indian Navy. The airfield is closed from 0830 IST to 1230 IST on Monday to Friday for military flying. The major challenge for Civil flights emanates from here as most of the civil flights operate immediately after 1230 Hrs leading to tremendous congestion on ground, in the air and inside as well as outside the terminal. We are trying to encourage airlines to operate during late evening/night where sufficient capacity without any constraints is available.
Due to unprecedented growth in air traffic in the recent past which is clear from the figures mentioned above, the shortage of vehicle parking space has become an another major issue. We are in discussions with the State Govt to identify alternate locations near the airport for creating suitable parking lots for vehicle.
It is worth mentioning here that we are getting excellent support from the State Govt on all aspects relating to development and expansion of Goa airport.
We had undertaken many modifications in past in the existing terminal to create more passenger areas and many modification works are presently underway to improve he passenger facilities and ensure smooth airport operations. We continuously engage with all our stakeholders including Immigration, Customs, Security and Airlines to improve their individual processes.
With the completion of ongoing modification works which are likely to be completed in next 6 months we are hopeful of significantly improving the passenger experience.
Herald: What are the expectations in terms of numbers of charter flights expected this season?
BN: Around 90% of international charter flights that touch India operate out of Goa earning it the nickname of “Charter gateway”. Around 1000 charter aircrafts operated in the last tourist season directly from European destinations –mainly Moscow, Germany and UK – while there is growing interest in the concept of such holiday package flights from Iran, Dubai and other countries. This year also, around the same number of charters are expected to operate from Goa as per the initial details available so far.
Herald: What are you doing to ensure the parking problem is sorted out at the airport?
BN: The Multi-Level Car Parking which is presently undergoing modifications to fulfil certain mitigation measures as suggested by DRDO, is likely to be put into operation by this year end. But, even after operationalization of the MLCP, we will not be able to fully address the parking issues at the airport because the number of vehicles has significantly increased in the recent times. As mentioned earlier, vehicle parking is one of the challenges we are facing due to unprecedented growth in air traffic in the recent past. We are in discussions with the State Govt to identify alternate locations near the airport for creating suitable parking lots for vehicles. We are hopeful of some workable solution for this problem from the Stare Govt.
Herald: What is being done to sort out the taxi problem at the airport?
BN: Public transport facility of all types including pre-paid taxis, radio taxis, buses etc. are very critical requirement for passengers travelling through any airport. Unfortunately, we at Goa are not able to offer choice to the passengers. However, slowly the things are moving in right direction now. State Govt is very much ceased of this critical issue. The recent launch of App Based Taxi Service “GoaMiles” by GTDC is a step in the right direction. AAI also is continuously collaborating with the State Govt to bring in more choices for the passengers. KTC has started regular bus services at frequent intervals from the airport to North/South Goa. We have started the Car Rental Services from a separate counter at airport from where passengers can hire all types of vehicles and pre-book also. Also, very soon we are planning to start “Rent A Cab” facility from a separate counter at airport. This way, we are trying to offer multiple options to passengers/tourists and trying to address the Taxi problem.
Herald: Many airports are preparing and beginning to conduct baseline emission inventories, implement sustainable planning and design greener buildings, what are you doing at the airport on this score?
BN: As far as design of buildings is concerned, as a matter of policy, AAI is going for GRIHA-4 ratings for all its new Terminal Buildings. The existing Terminal Building is also designed keeping green design aspects into consideration. At many of the AAI managed airports, we are going for Solar Energy to meet the energy requirements. At Goa airport, most of the vacant land belongs to Indian Navy and hence as we do not have space to install solar panels so we are not able to do much in the direction.
As part of sustainable development objectives, we are replacing all the conventional lights fitting with LED lights for which the work is already under progress. The ongoing work of parallel taxi track will reduce the delays on ground and holding of aircraft in the air which will reduce fuel consumption and thereby reduce carbon emissions. Slowly, we are replacing all the vehicles used in the airside to battery operated ones to reduce emissions.
Herald: What can the paying customer expect in terms of experience at the airport in the next five years?
BN: USP of Goa airport is the location it serves. Goa is a famous tourist destination not only for Indians but for the foreigners. No other Indian airport has got this USP. Every Indian Airline operator wants to operate into Goa. With the growth in Indian economy and rise in disposable incomes, every Indian wants to visit Goa to enjoy its pristine beaches. It’s a very attractive destination for Europeans and Russians also.
Improving customer experience is the main focus of AAI. Technology is one of most important aspect in that direction. AAI is very much in the process of introducing smart technologies in the airport processes all across its airports including Goa International airport. Biometric access Control System is being introduced for paperless travel. More number of Common User Self Service Kiosks are being introduced. Goa airport will be having the latest In-Line XBIS facility within a years’ time. Automatic Tray Retrieval System with Dual View XBIS is also likely to be put in place in a years’ time.
We have recently awarded Master Concessionaire Contracts for Retail and F & B. In retail, we have set up multiple shopping outlets at various locations through the contract awarded to Future Life Style and Fashion Travel Retail West Pvt Ltd. The F& B contract awarded to M/s Travel Food Services Pvt Ltd will come up with their outlets starting from November. In F & B, as per the contract, the agency is mandatorily required to bring in at least two international brands and one domestic brand. This will surely ensure value for money to the customers.
As mentioned earlier, currently we are undertaking one mega project involving construction of Parallel Taxi Track catering for full length of runway and three additional parking bays for Code-C type of aircraft. Construction Work is in progress for three additional parking bays and likely to be completed by January-2019.
We hope to complete the critical portion of parallel taxiway that will connect the beginning of runway to the apron by November-2018. With the completion of these two works, our airport handling capacity will tremendously improve and present delays on ground and holding in the air will significantly reduce.
AAI will be increasing the capacity of existing terminal by another 2 million passengers per annum within next two years. We have already selected the Project Management Consultant for proposed INR 256 crores project for extension of terminal building.
This will help us to cater for the growth in passenger numbers. In addition to these major projects, as mentioned earlier, in order to address the growth in passengers, we have carried out many modifications in the existing terminal and are still carrying out modifications in the existing terminal which includes creating additional departure entry gates to reduce waiting time at queues, increasing the size of security hold areas, putting more number of XBIS for faster security check, deploying more security personnel for faster security checks etc. We are currently undertaking complete renovation of all existing washrooms including increasing their size wherever possible.
