Once again we have the ugly head of the Mopa airport raising itself when the Chief Minister of Goa announced that it was going to be the new cargo airport for the state. This reminds us that we have not yet resolved the issue. And I wonder why after all these years we cannot resolve it? Several commissions and committees appointed by the Centre have time and again submitted reports confirming the inadequate safety and financial sustainability of Mopa.
Goa is one of the smallest states in India in terms of land area. It is currently served by Dabolim airport which is strategically situated close to the port of Mormugao.
According to Goa Tourism website, in 2014 Goa received a total of 40,58,226 tourists – 35,44,634 tourists were domestic and 5,13,592 tourists were international. This is an average of 3,38,185 tourists a month by different means of transport — air, rail, road. Whilst the average hotel beds in Goa across all categories of hotels is a little over 52,000.
These statistics only serve to indicate the volumes of people that are visiting our tiny state and the infrastructure available to cater to them which seems more than adequate to meet the needs of the tourists.
Now let’s talk about the airport. In case one has forgotten history, the airport was built in 1955 by the Government of the Portuguese State of India on 249 acres of land. After Liberation, the Navy occupied the airport for its own use. Currently 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).
Dabolim airport recently underwent an upgrade where a new terminal building was built at a cost of Rs 345 crore with the ability to handle 2,750 passengers in peak hours. Which means it can easily handle 27,500 passengers in 10 hours or 825,000 passengers in a month.
Yet, we are constantly told that the current Dabolim airport is saturated and cannot cater to the needs of the growing tourists arriving by air. If we compare that with current tourist arrivals, even assuming that all of them flew in by air, we are nowhere near what the new terminal capacity can handle in a 10 hour period.
Why do we take a 10 hour period? Because currently due to the Navy’s requirements for training flights, civilian airspace is restricted to certain hours of the day but definitely more than 10 hours.
The existing old airport terminal building which is lying unutilized can be refurbished to cater to cargo operations as well as general aviation. The tarmac in front of it can be used for parking general aviation aircraft. Often general aviation flights including medical ambulance air services are denied with the authorities citing lack of parking space as the reason.
The land area is sufficient to expand the facilities on the airside to strengthen the existing airport infrastructure to accommodate parking bays, taxi tracks, cargo facilities, etc. But of course the main issue is that the Navy is not willing to relinquish areas that they occupy which are not linked to aviation or the airport, namely the civilian enclave, recreational facilities such as the golf course, etc.
Recently, the Government of Goa in its infinite wisdom has decided we need a new airport because of the booming influx of tourists and exponentially rising cargo movements.
The new airport will be built at MOPA. Several studies indicate that the location is not suitable for an airport as it is on a table top (just like the Mangalore airport) and quite tricky to operate take off and landings especially in the monsoons. ICAO has also raised objections to the site and in 2005 the Air Force objected to the location citing safety reasons.
Building the airport is going to cost the taxpayer Rs 3000 crores and more. Apart from that, we will be damaging the environment, cutting down forests, taking land away from small farmers and relocating an airport far away from the port which is absolutely fool hardy considering that we should integrate all transportation hubs for the ease of cargo movement.
So let’s take a moment to consider the cargo movement out of Goa. Dabolim airport currently up-lifts about 4000 tonnes of cargo every year. This is peanuts compared to other airports in India as the table below suggests.
Even if we compare Goa’s potential with Coimbatore which has a roaring textile industry that exports all over the world, we have less than half of the uplift. And let’s not compare the cargo uplift from Goa to other larger cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, etc.
Yet, the Chief Minister of Goa announced that Mopa is going to be a cargo airport. I was shocked.
I looked at the statistics and looked again. I checked and found that neither Delhi nor Mumbai have a separate airport for cargo! In fact, there is no dedicated airport for cargo in all of India.
So why does Goa need one?
And that too so far away from the port of Mormugao.
Am I missing something?
I would invite the Chief Minister to have a public debate once and for all on this topic and explain to the people of Goa why we need a new airport at all! Goa can use the Rs 3000 on other things like better housing, educational and health facilities and waste management which will truly benefit all.
(Vito Gomes is the Founder and Managing Director of Aviation Services Management and is an aviation expert.)
