Panaji: In a major blow to the next tourism season, flight operations at the international airport at Dabolim will be restricted to just 8 hours a day, for a period of 6 months, to accommodate the Indian Navy's decision to re-carpet the airport's singular runway.
As the re-carpeting work cannot be done during the monsoon, it is scheduled for the 6-month period between September 2014 and February 2015, Goa's peak tourist season.
Airports Authority of India, that operates the civilian enclave of the naval airbase at Dabolim, is still trying to negotiate timings with the Indian Navy, which has given them the use of the runway from 8am to 4pm once the re-carpeting work begins.
At present, civilian flights at the airport operate for 19 hours per day, while the Navy conducts its training exercises between 8am and 1pm.
"Scaling down our operations is imminent. We are trying to work things out with the airline operators to adjust flight timings, but we would definitely be forced to reduce the number of flights handled here during that period," said M Suresh, director, AAI, Goa.
13/05/14 Anisha Francis/Times of India
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As the re-carpeting work cannot be done during the monsoon, it is scheduled for the 6-month period between September 2014 and February 2015, Goa's peak tourist season.
Airports Authority of India, that operates the civilian enclave of the naval airbase at Dabolim, is still trying to negotiate timings with the Indian Navy, which has given them the use of the runway from 8am to 4pm once the re-carpeting work begins.
At present, civilian flights at the airport operate for 19 hours per day, while the Navy conducts its training exercises between 8am and 1pm.
"Scaling down our operations is imminent. We are trying to work things out with the airline operators to adjust flight timings, but we would definitely be forced to reduce the number of flights handled here during that period," said M Suresh, director, AAI, Goa.
13/05/14 Anisha Francis/Times of India
