Goa's Mopa airport commissioning after Aug 15, says CM Pramod Sawant

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said the Mopa international airport, which is expected to double the number of flights landing in the state, will be commissioned after August 15.

Speaking in the state Assembly during the monsoon session on Wednesday, Sawant said, "Almost 90 per cent of work on the project has been completed and trials at the airport are on."

The airport at Mopa in North Goa district would be commissioned "between August 15 and September 1 this year," he said.

A Skill Development Centre has already started operating at the airport site where students are being trained for the purpose of employment in the project. More students would be enrolled in the coming days, the CM said.

After the commissioning of the Mopa airport, the existing Dabolim airport in the coastal state will not be closed and flight operations will continue there, he added.

The Dabolim international airport, located in South Goa district, operates as a civil enclave in a military airbase named INS Hansa.

CM Sawant on Monday said in the Assembly that only 70 flights land at the Dabolim Airport on a daily basis, as no landing is permitted from 9 am to 2 pm at the facility.

After the commissioning of the Mopa airport, the number of flights landing in Goa will go up to 150, he had said.

Many countries were waiting to sign an agreement with Goa for operate their flights here, which would be possible only after the commissioning of the greenfield airport at Mopa.

In the wake of the existing infrastructure at the Dabolim airport, the state has an agreement with only 18 countries, he had said.