Goa’s second international airport at Mopa will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. This will be the second airport in Goa, the first one being located at Dabolim.
The state-of-the-art airport has multiple facilities such as runway capable of handling world’s largest aircrafts (Photo: India Today)
By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Goa’s second international airport at Mopa on Sunday at 5 pm during his visit to the state, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Saturday. Built at a cost of Rs 2,870 crore, the airport will start operations starting January 5. The airport will boost tourism and give fillip to the socio-economic development of the region, the statement added.
The Mopa International Airport’s foundation stone was laid by the prime minister in November 2016. This will be the second airport in Goa, the first one being located at Dabolim. The Mopa airport offers several upgrades over the one in Dabolim, officials told news agency PTI.
“Developed at a cost of around ₹2,870 crores, the airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and has solar power plant, green buildings, LED lights on the runway, rain water harvesting, state of the art sewage treatment plant with recycling facilities, among other such facilities.
It has adopted some of the best-in-class technologies like 3-D Monolithic Precast buildings, StabilRoad, Robomatic Hollow precast walls, 5G compatible IT infrastructure,” PMO said in the statement.
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FACILITIES AT MOPA AIRPORT
The airport has multiple facilities, such as a runway capable of handling the world’s largest aircraft, 14 parking bays along with night parking facility for aircraft, self-baggage drop facilities, state of the art and independent air navigation infrastructure, among others.
“Initially, phase I of the Airport will cater to around 4.4 million passengers per annum (MPPA), which can be expanded to a saturation capacity of 33 MPPA. The airport will boost the socio-economic development of the State and serve the needs of the tourism industry,” the statement said.
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“The airport has extensively used Azulejos tiles, which are native to Goa. The food court also recreates the charm of a typical Goan café. It will also have a designated area for a curated flea market where local artisans and craftsmen will be encouraged to display and market their wares,” PMO said.
“It has the potential of serving as a key logistics hub, directly connecting many domestic and international destinations. It is also planned for the airport to have multi-modal connectivity,” it added.
The Dabolim airport offers direct connections with 15 domestic and six international locations. It will now increase to 35 domestic and 18 international locations with the new airport.
At present, the current passenger handling capacity of the Dabolim airport is 8.5 MPPA (million passengers per annum). Once the Mopa airport comes into operation, the total passenger handling capacity will become around 13 MPPA.
There is a provision of night parking as well at the Dabolim airport. Moreover, while there was no cargo terminal at Dabolim, the Mopa airport will have the facility with a handling capacity of 25,000 MT.
(With PTI inputs)
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