Charter Flight Goa
Charter Flight Goa
Dabolim Airport (Konkani: दाबोळी विमानतळ / Dabollim Vimantoll , pronounced ) (IATA: GOI , ICAO: VAGO ) is located in the village of Dabolim in Goa, India. It is the only airport in the state and operates as a civil enclave in a military airbase named INS Hansa.
History
The airport was built by the government of the Estado da Índia Portuguesa in the 1950s on 249 acres (101 ha). Until 1961 it served as the main hub for the local airline TAIP Transportes Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa, which on a regular schedule served Karachi, Mozambique, Timor, and other destinations. In April 1962, it was occupied by the Indian Navy's air wing when Major General K.P. Candeth, who had led the successful military operation into Goa, "handed over" the airport to the Indian Navy before relinquishing charge as its military governor to a Lieutenant Governor of the then Union Territory of Goa in June.
The earliest international (i.e. non-Portuguese) tourists to Goa may have been the flower children of the 1960s. They used the overland route, by road or rail, from Bombay (now Mumbai), detouring via Poona (now Pune), to north Goa's secluded beaches. A sea route was also available. For civilian air travel out of Vasco da Gama and Goa the Indian Navy and the Government of India invited the public sector airline (known now as Indian) to operate at Dabolim from 1966 after the runway was repaired and jet-enabled. Road and rail travel remains the mainstay of journeys between Goa and places like Mumbai and Bangalore though they take 12–15 hours nowadays (down from 24 hours at one time).
Once two vital road bridges across the main waterways of Goa were built in the early 1980s and Goa hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1983, the charter flight business began to take off at Dabolim a few years later, pioneered by Condor Airlines of Germany.
Goa's estimated 700 flights per year account for some 90% of the country's international charter tourist flights. It is estimated that about 150 to 200 thousand foreign tourists arrive at Dabolim on charter flights. Goa's total foreign tourists (roughly double the charter passengers) account for 5-10% of the national figure and 10-15% of the country's foreign exchange receipts from tourism. As the weekend morning hours approach saturation due to waves of chartered flights especially from UK, and Russia, attention is shifting to the night and early morning hours of weekdays for accommodating such flights. Tourists from UK to Goa by air were estimated to number about 101,000 in 2007-08 while those from Russia numbered about 42,000 (by 159 charter flights) in the same period. These were the top two foreign tourist categories. Charter flights booked by Russia for the current season numbered 240.
Economic factors
Dabolim's Air traffic control is in the hands of the Indian Navy, which earns revenues from this service on account of aircraft movements. Landing fees are of the order of Rs 17,000 each. RNF is about Rs 7,400. The Airports Authority of India could be eligible for aircraft parking fees of Rs 10,000 per day. It receives a part of the passenger service fee which is shared between it and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The AAI's prime source of earning is from non-traffic services like passenger facilitation, car park, entry tickets, stalls, restaurants and shops at the main terminal building and advertising boards. With such revenues at an estimated Rs 700 million, Dabolim airport is one of only a dozen "profitable" airports of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Capital expenditures (such as for runway expansion) at the airport are covered by AAI. The Dabolim airport runway has increased in length over the years from about 6,000 feet (1,829 m) initially to at least 7,850 feet (2,390 m) today (approx 2,370 m) , and can now accommodate Boeing 747s. There is a shortage of night parking bays which are at a premium in metro airports like Mumbai. A local association has estimated that about 40 hectares are needed for the civil enclave in comparison to the 14 hectares earmarked at present.
The Indian Civil Aviation Ministry announced a plan to upgrade Dabolim airport in 2006. This involved constructing a new international passenger terminal (after converting the existing one to domestic) and adding several more aircraft stands over an area of about 4 hectares (9.9 acres). The construction was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007. However delays in transfer of the required land from the Navy have held up proceedings.
Structure
The airport is spread over 688 hectares (1,700 acres) (and possibly 745 hectares or 1,840 acres) and consists of a civil enclave of nearly 14 hectares (35 acres), an increase from its original size of 6 hectares (15 acres). There are two terminal buildings operated by the public sector Airports Authority of India (AAI) which are Public Works Department (PWD) brick and mortar structures with a total floor space of 12,000 square metres (130,000 sq ft). Of this, a domestic terminal comprises 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft) and there is an international terminal that comprises 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft). The remaining space is for other service areas.
The domestic terminal was built in 1983 and is designed to process 350 arrivals and departures simultaneously, while the international terminal built in 1996 is meant for 250. There are 250 paramilitary personnel stationed at the airport for security purposes. There is provision for parking 84 cars and 8 buses. The car park has since been reserved for staff vehicles. Private cars and buses have been relegated to spaces outside the airport premises.
Of the 30-40 flights daily, there is a very large concentration of civilian traffic in the period between 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm during weekdays, with the balance in the early morning hours. This is because of naval restrictions for military flight training purposes. This flight training takes place throughout the year. The huge demand during the peak Christmas/New Year tourist season results in the sharp spiking of air fares during this period. Delhi/Mumbai-Goa air fares for this period have become a bench mark of sorts at the upper end, comparable to international fares from Mumbai to Dubai and to Bangkok. Officially, night operations have been permitted and enabled since October 2007 but they have taken place only an ad hoc basis subject to the mandatory clearance of the naval ATC.
The Navy's premises straddle the Dabolim runway and consequently its personnel cross at two points (on foot or bicycles or in vehicles) between flights. One point near the terminal constrains the enlargement of aircraft parking space. Moreover, such crossings pose a potential hazard of the type which downed Concorde in Paris viz. seemingly innocuous debris on the runway. Navy personnel in the Goa area number about six thousand in total, substantially larger in size than the total Goa state police force of less than four thousand.
Expansions
A new integrated terminal has been planned which now is under construction. The foundation stone was laid on 21 February,2009.
Statistics
By 2005, total passengers had increased to 987,690 (1944 domestic plus 762 international passengers per day, year unspecified). The figure for 2004-05 was placed at nearly 1.3 million giving a daily average of 3467. Data for April 2005 and 2006 are given in an Airports Authority Of India report. The airport director has claimed that 2.2 million passengers used the airport in CY 2006. This rose to about 2.6 million in CY 2007. The airport is ranked among the top ten in the country in terms of passenger traffic. Airport authorities consider that it has been operating at saturation levels since 2004.
Terminals
Less than a dozen airlines compete in the domestic market. There are 132 airports in India which can be categorised in sometimes overlapping ways into public sector, private sector, civil enclaves, international, metro, and non-metro. Of these, over 74 are connected at present. Dabolim is connected to only about ten Indian airports (about 35% of the most active ones in the network).
Dabolim's scheduled international flights are sporadic. These are operated only to the Persian Gulf region by the two state owned carriers Air India and Indian Airlines, who were granted a duopoly of this sector for a few years. Foreign carriers were for long disallowed from operating scheduled flights to or from Goa, but have recently started obtaining permission to do so.
Several European charter airlines fly to Goa seasonally, typically during the winter months.
Airlines and destinations
Military flight training
The military flight training at Dabolim is carried out on 5 days of the week from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs, during which hours civilian flights cannot operate. Some exceptions have been made on rare occasions by the naval ATC, chiefly in the case of foreign airlines. Charter airlines carrying international tourists during the season tend to use the freer civil aviation regimes on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and in the early morning hours. The blocked time is about 15% of the total on a weekly basis albeit during peak morning hours for civilian flights. Recently the Navy released a
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