TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: After missing several deadlines, the new Dabolim international airport terminal is set for a soft opening on December 19 (Goa’s Liberation Day), while the airport would be fully functional by January 26, 2014.
Announcing the decision on Thursday, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that the new terminal would be opened provided they get the approval from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Parrikar chaired the high-level meeting of AAI and state government officials at Dabolim which reviewed the preparedness of the Rs 400-crore extended Dabolim airport on Thursday. Congress Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho was also present for the meeting.
Addressing a press conference soon after the meeting, Chief Minister announced that the soft opening of the extended facility would be done on December 19, State’s liberation day. After the initial trial launch, the extended airport would be fully functional from January 26, next year.
“By February, next year, the old airport building would be closed down,” he said adding ‘the building would be demolished to make way for aeroplane parking’.
The AAI and government had first set a deadline of March 2013 for the project. This was later changed to June and then to October 2013.
The Chief Minister also announced that the Union Ministry has agreed to launch visa-on-arrival facility at the new terminal, once it becomes operational. Parrikar said that with the new facility, the passenger handling capacity of the airport would be increased from four million to five to six million passengers annually.
Currently, the airport is operational for only 15-16 hours a day. If the airport becomes functional for 24 hours, then the handling capacity might go up to nine million passengers annually, Parrikar said.
At present, there are 32 check-in counters which will later be increased to 64. While there are 12 immigration counters for departure at the current airport, the new facility will have 16 such counters. The existing six immigration counters for arrival, will later be increased to nine.
The new facility is six times bigger that of the current one, Parrikar said, adding that it will be able to accommodate 11 aircrafts at the same time with
the latest additions such as five aero bridges and six conveyer belts. Two conveyer belts each would be dedicated to the domestic and international flights while two would be kept
in reserve.
