Charter slots: Goa’s Russian connection likely to be affected

The paucity of parking slots and berths at the Goa International Airport for Charter flights has caused ripples at a promotion show in Moscow, Russia with Tourism Minister Manohar "Babu" Ajgaonkar admitting that one of the primary concerns raised by tour operators in Russia was the lack of landing slots.

the goan I network | SEPTEMBER 25, 2017, 07:08 PM IST

PANAJI

"Over 300 travel trade members visited our pavilion and several charter companies requested for policies to grant more parking berths at the Goa International airport to increase tourist arrivals," Ajgaonkar said in a statement released to the media at the conclusion of the 23rd International Trade Fair for Travel and Tourism Forum at OTDYKH 2017 in Moscow.
Tour operators back home have already begun to raise alarms saying if Airports Authority of India (AAI) doesn't issue landing slots for Charter flights scheduled to bring foreign tourists to the State this season, the entire season could suffer.
Without landing slots at Dabolim, Charter flights will not be in 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.
"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," Sheikh Ismail, general manager, Concord Travels & Tours, said.
Savio Messias, president, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), too voiced his concern.
"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."
Charter flights, which had the flexibility to land and take-off at any time during weekends earlier, will no longer have this option either. Not to mention, landing at 8:30 am and taking off at 12:30 pm on weekdays for charter flights also appears tough now.
"At times, due to heavy rains or clouds, charter flights can be delayed. If they are not allowed to land in the morning, they will have to divert flights to nearby airport and come back later to Goa. It will badly affect their interest in Goa," Ismail said.
Sources also revealed that 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.
There has been a significant increase in Russian tourist arrivals to Goa with a 55% increase in 2016 against 33% in 2012. Goa received as many as 3,76,957 tourists in the year 2016 alone. Goa, which is popular among travellers in the western countries, attracted 614 chartered flights during the tourist season lasting from October 2016 to May 2017. These flights brought 1,60,728 lakh Russian tourists to Goa.
Goa Tourism had put up an attractive pavilion showcasing Goan traditions, heritage and all its tourism attractions. Besides the travel and trade visitors from Moscow, the Goa Tourism pavilion also welcomed a delegation of Regional Travel Trade from around Russia.
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