The decision was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar in a bid to ensure smooth operations at Dabolim international airport.
It was impressed upon the airport authorities and Bureau of Immigration to resolve all issues ahead of the forthcoming tourism season starting October 2016 so as to avoid chaos and confusion at the airport and prevent harassment to tourists landing here.
During the meeting, the new airport Director B C H Negi was apprised of matters concerning the ETV facility and the need to expedite the process of issuing the same to arriving tourists.
“He was explained the need to increase the number of counters to meet the rise in tourist arrivals, increase manpower, improve the designs of the ETV issue counters, add proper signs, besides other issues concerning cleanliness, hygiene, trolley facilities,” a tourism official said after the meeting that was co-chaired by GTDC Chairman Nilesh Cabral and attended by agencies concerned.
The meeting also took note of issues raised by the taxi operators at Dabolim airport, and the need to increase space for taxis parking around the airport and within close proximity of the arrival terminal. A joint inspection is expected to be carried out between all the concerned departments to find suitable and alternative parking areas for taxi operators. The inspection is also expected to look into issues within the new airport terminal and find solutions to improve services and facilities therein.
