VASCO
Stating that Dabolim Airport had witnessed a huge rise in passenger footfalls during the festive season in the State, Airport Director Gagan Malik on Monday said new air sectors were also getting connected with Goa.
"There has been a steady rise in number of passengers and number of flights. On Sunday, we had handled around 72 flights with roughly around 11,000 passengers arriving and another 11,000 departing from Goa. We are expecting the same number of passengers on Monday as well,” Malik told reporters.
“Flights will continue to increase and domestic tourists will contribute to a large chunk of the economy of the State."
"Goa is also being connected to new sectors and while the Hubballi sector is yet to be connected, we have new sectors like Nagpur and Jaipur which were never connected before. New sectors will continue to be added by different airlines," said Malik.
Commenting on the international air traffic operating under the Air Bubble initiative, the airport director said Air Arabia had taken slots up to March.
“Except for UK, flights operating from the Middle East are operating and they are also picking up. There is a steady rise in number of passengers in that sector as well,” said Malik.
Ever since the domestic aviation sector was reopened after being stopped for a few months amid the Covid pandemic, the frequency of flights and number of domestic passengers have steadily increased at the Dabolim Airport.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had handled 2.94 lakh passengers at the Dabolim Airport in November, the highest since the domestic flights resumed operations in May.
The airport has achieved phenomenal growth rate within the past six months.
On December 6, Dabolim Airport had handled 54 arrivals and 54 departures with 6,388 arriving passengers and 7,842 departing passengers.
