PANAJI
Tour operators have said that it will be really bad for Goa tourism if the Airports Authority of India (AAI) doesn't issue landing slots for charter flights scheduled to bring foreign tourists to the state this season.
The point is plain and simple. Without landing slots at Dabolim Airport, charter flights will not be in a position to fly to Goa and it will be highly uneconomical for tourists to fly first to Mumbai or Bangalore and then take a connecting flight to Goa.
Sheikh Ismail, general manager, Concord Travels & Tours, said, "Charter flights will not be able to fly to Goa if landing slots are not given to them. It will be a big problem for Goa."
Sources also revealed that the AAI has started issuing landing slots to some of the charter flights, but most of them even now have not been allotted the landing slots.
Savio Messias, president, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), said, "Earlier, charter flights would land at Dabolim Airport at 8.30 am and take off at 12.30 pm. We have heard that even this will not be possible this year."
From Monday to Friday, between 8.30 am and 12.30 pm, Navy used to use the airport and therefore it was closed for commercial flights. It is also learnt that Navy has extended the non-flying hours between 8.30 am to 12.30 pm even on Saturday and Sunday.
In a nutshell, charter flights, which had the flexibility to land and take-off any time during weekends earlier, will no longer have this option either. Now, landing
at 8.30 am and taking off at 12.30 pm on weekdays also appears tough.
Messias said, "All this means that charter flights will have to land in the late night or early morning hours now at Dabolim airport."
Ismail continued, "At times, due to heavy rains or clouds, charter flights can be delayed. If these are not allowed to land in the morning time, they will have to divert flights to nearby airports and come back later to Goa. It will badly affect their interest in Goa."
Tour operators are at present in Moscow trying to attract foreign travellers. But, the AAI has not issued landing slots to most charter flights. This puts the tour operators in a very tricky situation, as convincing travellers without permission to land flights is very difficult.
