The announcement that Goa’s Dabolim airport will see
an investment of close to Rs 500 cr is a mixed bag.
On one hand, the parallel taxiway for the Dabolim
airport was planned back in 2006 and among the
upgrades planned back then, only the taxiway is remaining
to be implemented raising questions over why it was
put off seemingly until the Mopa airport was finalised.
On the other hand, it is proof that the Airports Authority of
India has not given up on the Dabolim airport and intends to
continue to use it even once Mopa takes wings in 2020.
If Dabolim gets a taxiway parallel to the runway as planned,
the runway capacity will rise as much as five fold. Currently,
owing to the lack of a taxiway, during the congested hours
planes have to circle over the airport awaiting a landing slot.
The current practice of using the runway for taxiing keeps the
runway busy when it could be used for landing or takeoffs
while other planes taxi into position simultaneously. This is
especially significant because the
airport is most busy during a short
three hour interval between 12:30
pm and 3:30 pm during which the
airport handles 60% of its flights.
The question is: What took the
AAI so long to decide to go ahead
with the taxiway? Was it afraid that
increased capacity would shy away
potential bidders from the Mopa airport or cause them to lower
their bid price?
The AAI chairman conceded that due to the absence of a parallel
taxi track, the facility was facing abundant constraints in
handling the flights as the time consumed in landing and taxing
was prolonged but that with the new facility within one
and a half year, the airport will be able to handle at least 50%
more flights.
Better late than never. It is important that this long awaited
project is taken up at the earliest and completed much before
Mopa Airport becomes functional.
At the same time, a plan for Dabolim airport needs to be
drawn up, so that once Mopa is a reality, Dabolim continues
to receive regular commercial flights and not just the nominal
Air India flight being forced upon the airport or the once in two
years ‘aeroshow’ meant only to ensure that politicians’ promises
and protestations to keep both the airports operational do
not go unfulfilled.
Else the investment now meant to be used for decades, will
only be valid for a few years as Dabolim dies a slow death as a
civilian airport.
