The prospect of brand new greenfield airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad in three years has prompted states like Punjab and Maharashtra to push for similar ventures but leading the pack is Goa which has drawn up the contours of a state-of-the-art airport at Mopa by 2014. The plan, which has been prepared with the help of experts from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), identifies Airbus 380—the largest passenger plane—as the model aircraft for the airport’s master planning. This would mean that the runway width would be more than any of the existing airports in the country. Currently, the existing Goa airport is one of the few AAI sites registering a profit. Close to 2 million passengers fly in to the place every year and officials point out that there is a beeline of charter operators for permission but the limited number of slots is a huge constraint. At present, there is parking place for just six aircraft at any given time. Experts have found the location of Mopa suitable for the kind of large-scale project Goa wishes to launch. The report, which is now under the consideration of the Civil Aviation Ministry, states that Mopa will provide service to Sangli, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Kolhapur apart from Goa. It will be a convenient access point for Mumbai and places like Belgaum and Dharwad in Karnataka. Though the projection is that Goa will get around 6.5 million passengers over the next two decades, the plan proposes to design an airport for 10 million passengers so as to avoid congestion in the future. The suggested timeline marks 2014 as the completion for the first phase with a single runway but proposes rapid exit taxiways to reduce runway occupancy. While a detailed study of various aspects of the airport will be carried out over the next few years, the initial plan states that the airport will ensure fixed aerobridges to cater to all aircraft. Significantly, the airport terminal at Mopa will be designed on the basis of international check-in process time which is about two-and-a-half minutes, then one minute for immigration clearance and 15 seconds for security. That means sufficient space for counters and access gates will have to be set aside to meet this benchmark. The plan proposes to have nearly 20,000 sq metres allocated for parking 40 different types of aircraft. Unlike any other airport in the country, a separate helicopter area has been suggested to ensure that their movements don’t interrupt with regular air traffic. Hangars for four choppers have been recommended. Besides this, the Mopa airport will have an exclusive business area of 15,000 sq. metres. This would be given out to duty free shops, malls and such facilities. In fact, the suggestion is to develop an airport city with a hotel, business centre, golf course, accommodation for employees and an elaborate road network. Civil Aviation officials pointed out that contours for this airport have been prepared by the ICAO, Goa Government and AAI. Once this is approved by the ministry, a detailed study to look into different elements of the project will have to be commissioned and a funding pattern be agreed upon. The greenfield airport policy works on the principle that 74 per cent stake will be held by a private consortium which will build and operate the facility. The state will provide the land, air navigation services and other related concessions. It will have 26 per cent stake with Centre holding 13 per cent through the AAI.
