Indian budget airline IndiGo on Thursday announced that it will operate as many as 168 weekly flights to eight domestic destinations from the soon to be inaugurated New Goa International Airport. Operations at the popular coastal state’s second airport – located in North Goa’s Mopa village – will kick off after a grand inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11.
The new airport has been built keeping in mind the constantly growing demand and tourist influx in Goa every year.
With 12 flights daily and a total of 168 weekly, new air services to and from Goa at the Mopa airport will be IndiGo’s largest ever station launch, the airline said in a release. It will connect major cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Jaipur to improve the direct connectivity to the state.
The present Goa International airport at Dabolim in South Goa will also remain active, and IndiGo will continue its existing operations from the old airport as well, it added.
Here’s everything you need to know about the New Goa International Airport:
The greenfield airport was conceptualised and conceived way back in the 1990s, and has been developed by GMR Airports subsidiary, GMR Goa International Airport (GGIAL), on a public private partnership (PPP) model in tandem with the Goa government.
The new Goa airport has been in the working for more than eight years. In 2016, PM Modi laid the foundation stone and the construction began the following year after several delays.
Located about 35 km from Goa’s capital Panjim, the newly built is situated in Mopa village in North Goa, at well-connected location for travellers to commute. Tourists can reach the airport by taxi services, railway and bus services.
The first text flight at the Mopa airport was conducted in September this year on an Indigo Airlines A320 aircraft, chief minister Pramod Sawant had announced. Subsequently, the airport received approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for handling scheduled services on October 26 this year.
Commercial flight operations are expected to begin from January 5 next year.