Editor, Goemkarponn
AERIAL VIEW
It is not yet known which airlines have shown a willingness to move to Mopa once it starts operations and which ones want to stay put at Dabolim? Will the airlines be given a choice?
Has the Government even tried to approach the airlines to get these answers?
Given the restrictions of space and facilities, it is understood that most airlines would want to make Mopa their home, which would have vast parking spaces and facilities.
What if all airlines want to move to Mopa? What happens to Dabolim, then?
In this case, the Government will say, we never shut down Dabolim; the airlines have moved to Mopa. In this way, Dabolim will be deserted even as it continues to exist; it will have no existence.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
Once again, the Centre, as well as the State government, continue to suggest that Dabolim would not be shut down and the operations will continue to exist even after Mopa takes off somewhere in December ’22 or January ’23.
The question here really is how will it be done? How will it be feasible for airlines will employ staff at two different places?
As per CM Dr Pramod Sawant, the airport is scheduled to be opened somewhere in December 2022, so literally, we are around 35-40 days away from the inauguration if we consider mid-December. Until now, there is no action plan on which flights will operate from Dabolim and which ones at Mopa? Even if it is, it has not been made public so far.
Whether Dabolim will be a Domestic airport only, as suggested by the Goa government? There is no clarity so far?
It is not yet known which airlines have shown a willingness to move to Mopa once it starts operations and which ones want to stay put at Dabolim? Will the airlines be given a choice?
Has the Government even tried to approach the airlines to get these answers?
Given the restrictions of space and facilities, it is understood that most airlines would want to make Mopa their home, which would have vast parking spaces and facilities.
What if all airlines want to move to Mopa? What happens to Dabolim, then?
In this case, the Government will say, we never shut down Dabolim; the airlines have moved to Mopa. In this way, Dabolim will be deserted even as it continues to exist; it will have no existence.
We have already seen elsewhere how the old airports at Hyderabad and Bengaluru were shut after the new airports began operation. Hence, even though there are N number of assurances from the Centre and the State, there is no guarantee that Dabolim will survive for long unless the Government takes a firm stand that the airlines operate some flights from Dabolim as well.
Or the Government can ask the low-cost airlines to operate from Dabolim, as is the case at Delhi IGI airport.
But again, here, Mopa will be a private airport operated by GMR, and for GMR to survive the high cost plus paying the 35 p.c of profit to the State government, it would want more traffic.
The demand for Dabolim will continue as the passengers from South Goa would want to land at the airport as it is centrally located, whereas a one-way trip from Margao would be around 60 kilometres, meaning a two hours journey. So considering the two hours reporting time and two hours journey, a person from Margao will have to leave at least four hours before the departure time. Strange, isn’t it?
While the demand for Dabolim will continue, the percentage could be small for airlines to fly, which may not be economical for them.
Hence, slowly but steadily, Dabolim will die a slow death and, in the end, may remain only a cargo airport.
Again, Government will say we never shut down Dabolim; it was the passengers and airlines who opted for Mopa.
