International flight operations at the New Goa International Airport (now called Manohar International Airport) are likely to start from March onwards.
Some Middle-Eastern carriers and an Indian airline have already written seeking permission for slots at the airport, sources said. Ticket sales though are yet to start.
Domestic flight operations at the airport will begin from January 5 onwards. “Around February-March we should see international flight operations from the airport,” RV Sheshan, CEO, GMR Goa International Airport Ltd (GGIAL) told businessline post inauguration of the new airport.
GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL), a special purpose vehicle set up to operate and manage the airport, had in November 2016 signed a concession agreement with the Goa government to build and operate the new Goa airport for a period of 40 years from the appointed date. This contract can be further extended by 20 years.
80-20 mix
According to him, “less than 5 per cent of the total traffic” volume coming in through the existing Dabolim airport is international, while GGIAL’s objective is to “have an healthy mix of 20 per cent international and 80 per cent domestic” traffic.
“That is what our business development ambition is (an 80-20 mix). Accordingly, we would work with various airliners in the international domain and talk to them, position and market our new airport. We will make all efforts to increase our ratio of domestic-to-international passengers in the airliners and that’s the ambition… and we should find success in the next two to three years,” Sheshan said.
On the domestic air connectivity front, the airport at Mopa will lead to increased direct connections with cities including Guwahati and Patna. These cities have captive customers who currently come-in through one-stop destinations via Delhi or Mumbai or elsewhere.
The new airport has the potential to add 17-20-odd direct connections over and above the existing 15-odd direct connections that Goa’s existing Dabolim airport has. “As we know, about 16 to 17 domestic destinations are connected from Dabolim (directly). Whereas our interactions with the airline operators and our own market study suggest we should be in a position to at least bring another 17 to 20 new connections. So practically, we should be able to look at doubling the direct connectivity,” he said.
Operational benefits
According to Sheshan, in all likelihood GGIAL will “provide certain operational benefits” which include “slots requirement for a specific time” or night parking facilities and so on. “I don’t think that we will be in a position to provide any commercial benefits. However, we should be able to provide certain operational benefits in terms of the slots requirement for a specific time,” he said.
Sheshan explained that a passenger can fly directly into the new airport due to the slot availability rather than having a one-stop journey.
Currently, 10 night parking spots are available, but depending upon the demand, it can go up. “So, once the market sees a big advantage, we should be able to provide them (slots) on demand. And we will be more cost competitive compared to other nearby airports which are more expensive. Once the market stabilises we can ramp up to a hub-and-spoke model. And thereby you can connect people to more destinations. So there are advantages in terms of night parking, connecting to different destinations, which makes it a convenient, comfortable and attractive option not only for the airliners, but also for our passengers,” he said.
(The writer was in Goa on invitation from GMR)