PANJIM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first phase of the Greenfield International Airport at Mopa on December 11, with commercial operations scheduled to start in the New Year – January 5, 2023. State’s second airport is likely to be named after then Chief Minister and BJP stalwart (late) Manohar Parrikar.
The airport at Mopa, being built at a cost of Rs 2,870 crore, will be the second facility in the State in addition to the existing airport at Dabolim. The airport will have the capacity to handle 44 lakh passengers per annum in the first phase and it will go above one crore passengers per annum after the completion of the entire project.
Addressing mediapersons on Monday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that Modi, who would be attending the closing ceremony of 9th World Ayurveda Congress in Goa, will physically inaugurate the airport facility along with three other projects, which would be done in virtual mode.
“Modi will also virtually inaugurate the All India Institute of Ayurveda in North Goa, the National Institute of Unani Medicine, Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), and the National Institute of Homeopathy, New Delhi,” he said.
Sawant said that the foundation stone for the ambitious second airport in the State was laid by the Prime Minister in November 2016. The project is being implemented through GMR Airports Limited. “GMR has informed that the commercial operation of the airport will start from January 5, 2023,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that new direct flights from Mopa will fly to additional 20 domestic and 12 international destinations. At present, from Dabolim, direct flight connections are in 50 domestic and six international destinations.
“This is also going to be the State’s first airport with night parking and cargo facility,” he added.
Responding to a question on naming the airport after Manohar Parrikar, Sawant said, “The decision is not in our hands but it is taken by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry….State is in talks with them.”
The State BJP Core Committee held a meeting on Saturday and recommended to the Government of India that the new Mopa Airport be named after Parrikar, who has also served as Defence Minister of India.
When asked, the Chief Minister reiterated that Dabolim will continue to operate.
Further, Sawant informed that so far 1,250 locals have been employed at the new airport.
The Mopa Airport is being constructed in four phases. The GMR Goa International Airport Limited will operate the new facility for a period of 40 years, extendable up to another 20 years. The project is spread across 2,312 acres of land.
