The user fees at Dabolim airport zoomed to 550% in the last four years, as compared to the Mopa airport. The Goa government has assured the Legislative Assembly’s Assurance Committee that this skyrocketing figure could decrease once the airport is expanded (TGE September 7, 2026). The Committee’s report states that if the user fees is huge than it will be unviable to operate the Dabolim airport. The officials of the Directorate of Airport explained to the Committee that the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has a formula to determine the user fees which is that airports with larger area have lower user fees vis-à-vis those with smaller areas and that user fees will reduce once Dabolim is expanded. AERA needs to explain to the people the magic formula. If we follow AERA’s strange logic, it will be cheaper to maintain a 4 BHK villa than a 1 BHK flat. Presently, prices of food and drinks are similar at Dabolim and Mopa, irrespective of their areas but could increase once Dabolim is redeveloped. This is guaranteed regardless of what the Assurance Committee and AERA say.
SRIDHAR D IYER, Caranzalem
