Go First, a domestic carrier on Friday said it will operate 42 direct flights per week which will be connecting Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru from the new international airport at Mopa in North Goa.
Go first mentioned, “The airline’s operations from the existing airport at Dabolim in the Southern part of the state will also continue.”
Sixty-five non-stop weekly flights are currently operated by The Wadia Group airline to and from Dabolim airport to the key destinations in the country.
Developed by GMR Airports Ltd through its subsidiary GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL) on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis, the state’s second airport is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
The commercial flight services from the new facility will begin on January 5, 2023.
Currently, only 70 flights land at the Dabolim airport, which is a civil enclave, every day. No landing is permitted from 9.00 am to 2.00 pm at the facility.
“As we expand our network in leisure destinations, Goa is an extremely important destination for us,” Kaushik Khona, Chief Executive Officer at Go First, said.
The airline said it will operate its maiden flight to the new airport on the same day (January 5) at 8.50 am from Bengaluru, followed by other flights.
In the current network plan, Go First direct flights will connect Goa to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
The Mumbai-based will continue its operations from the existing Goa airport, this new station is a move toward supporting domestic connectivity to cater to the increased demand for leisure destinations.
Go First has been on a growth trajectory in recent times by initiating new domestic and international sectors.
The new international airport is being constructed in four phases with an annual passenger capacity of 4.4 million in Phase I, which will be scaled up to 5.8 million in Phase II.
The Phase-III capacity has been pegged at 9.4 million passengers per annum and once Phase IV is also completed, the total capacity will reach 13.1 million passengers per annum.
A concession agreement had been signed in the year November 2016, by GMR Airports Ltd (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, with the Goa government to develop and operate the green field international airport project at Mopa.
Aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had in late October granted an aerodrome license to the new facility paving the way for starting commercial flight operations from there.
