Dabolim Airport

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Dabolim Airport
Goa Airport
Dabolim Navy Airbase

IATA: GOI – ICAO: VAGO
Summary
Airport type Public/Military
Operator Indian Navy
Airports Authority of India
Location Goa
Elevation AMSL 184 ft / 56 m
Coordinates 15°22′51″N 073°49′53″E / 15.38083, 73.83139
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08/26 11,345 3,458 Asphalt

Dabolim Airport (IATA: GOI, ICAO: VAGO) is located in Goa, India and is the only domestic and international airport in the small, secluded, seaside state. It is a military airbase that is also used as a civilian airport.

Contents

[edit] History

The airport was built by the government of the Estado da Índia Portuguesa in the 1950s.[1] Until 1961 it served as the main hub for the local airline TAIP Transportes Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa, which on a regular schedule served Karachi, Mozambique, Timor, and other destinations.[2] In April 1962, it was occupied by the Indian Navy's air wing as of April 1962, Major General K.P. Candeth, who had led the successful military operation into Goa, "handed over" the airport to the Indian Navy before relinquishing charge as its military governor to a Lieutenant Governor of the then Union Territory of Goa in June.

The earliest international (i.e. non-Portuguese) tourists to Goa may have been the flower children of the 1960s. They used the overland route, by road or rail, from Bombay (now Mumbai), detouring via Poona (now Pune), to north Goa's secluded beaches. A sea route was also available. For civilian air travel out of Vasco da Gama and Goa the Indian Navy and the Government of India invited the public sector airline (known now as Indian) to operate at Dabolim from 1966 after the runway was repaired and jet-enabled.

Once two vital road bridges across the main waterways of Goa were built in the early 1980s and Goa hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1983, the charter flight business began to take off a few years later, pioneered by Condor Airlines of Germany.

Goa's estimated 700 flights per year account for some 90% of the country's international charter tourist flights. It is estimated that about 150 to 200 thousand foreign tourists arrive at Dabolim on charter flights. Goa's total foreign tourists (roughly double the charter passengers) account for 5-10% of the national figure and 10-15% of the country's foreign exchange receipts from tourism. As the weekend morning hours approach saturation due to waves of chartered flights especially from U.K,Russia and France, attention is shifting to the night and early morning hours of weekdays for accommodating such flights.

[edit] Economic factors

Dabolim's Air traffic control is in the hands of the Indian Navy, which earns revenues from this service on account of aircraft movements. Landing fees are of the order of Rs 17,000 each. RNF is about Rs 7,400. The Airports Authority of India could be eligible for aircraft parking fees of Rs 10,000 per day. It receives a part of the passenger service fee which is shared between it and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Dabolim airport is one of only a dozen "profitable" airports of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Capital expenditures (such as for runway expansion) at the airport are covered by AAI. The Dabolim airport runway has increased in length over the years from about 1,829 metres initially to at least 7850 ft today (approx 2370 meters) [3] , and can now accommodate Boeing 747s. There is a shortage of night parking bays which are at a premium in metro airports like Mumbai. A local association has estimated that about 40 hectares are needed for the civil enclave in comparison to the 14 hectares earmarked at present.[4]

The Indian Civil Aviation Ministry announced a plan to upgrade Dabolim airport in 2006. This involved constructing a new international passenger terminal (after converting the existing one to domestic) and adding several more aircraft stands over an area of about 4 hectares. The construction was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007.[5] However delays in transfer of the required land from the Navy have held up proceedings.

[edit] Structure

The airport is spread over 688 hectares and consists of a civil enclave of nearly 14 hectares, an increase from its original size of 6 hectares. The terminal building operated by the public sector Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a Public Works Department (PWD) brick and mortar structure with a total floor space of 12,000 square metres. Of this, a domestic terminal comprises 2000 square metres and there is an international terminal that comprises 1000 square metres. The remaining space is for other service areas.

The domestic terminal is designed to process 350 arrivals and departures simultaneously, while the international terminal is meant for 250. There are 250 paramilitary personnel stationed at the airport for security purposes. There is provision for parking 84 cars and 8 buses. [6] The car park has since been reserved for staff vehicles. Private cars and buses have been relegated to spaces outside the airport premises.

Of the 30-40 flights daily, there is a very large concentration of civilian traffic in the period between 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm during weekdays, with the balance in the early morning hours. This is because of naval restrictions for military flight training purposes. This flight training takes place throughout the year. The huge demand during the peak Christmas/New Year tourist season results in the sharp spiking of air fares during this period.[7] Delhi/Mumbai-Goa air fares for this period have become a bench mark of sorts at the upper end, comparable to international fares from Mumbai to Dubai and to Bangkok. Officially, night operations have been permitted and enabled since mid-October 2007 but they have taken place on an ad hoc basis subject to the mandatory clearance of the naval ATC.

The Navy's premises straddle the Dabolim runway and consequently its personnel cross at two points (on foot or bicycles or in vehicles) between flights. One point near the terminal constrains the enlargement of aircraft parking space. Moreover, such crossings pose a potential hazard of the type which downed Concorde in Paris viz seemingly innocuous debris on the runway. Navy personnel in the Goa area number about six thousand in total, substantially larger in size than the total Goa state police force of less than four thousand.

[edit] Statistics

Statistics for Dabolim Airport[1]
Year Total Passengers Total Aircraft Movements
1999 758,914 7,584
2000 875,924 7,957
2001 791,628 8,112

By 2005, total passengers had increased to 987,690 (1944 domestic plus 762 international passengers per day, year unspecified). [8] The figure for 2004-05 was placed at nearly 1.3 million giving a daily average of 3467. Data for April 2005 and 2006 are given in an Airports Authority Of India report. The airport director has claimed that 2.2 million passengers used the airport in CY 2006. This rose to about 2.6 million in CY 2007. The airport is ranked among the top ten in the country in terms of passenger traffic.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Less than twelve airlines compete in the domestic market. There are 132 airports in India which can be categorised in sometimes overlapping ways into public sector, private sector, civil enclaves, international, metro, and non-metro. Of these, over 74 are connected at present. Dabolim is connected to only about 8 or 9 Indian airports (about 35% of the most active ones in the network).[9]

[edit] Domestic

[edit] International

Dabolim's scheduled international flights are sporadic. These are operated only to the Persian Gulf region by the two state owned carriers (Air India and Indian, since merged) who were granted a duopoly of this sector for a few years. Foreign carriers were disallowed from operating scheduled flights to/from Goa, but now some carriers have obtained permission to operate such scheduled services. SriLankan Airlines operates Airbus A320s twice a week.

Charter airlines such as airberlin, Arkefly, Condor Airlines, Monarch Airlines, Novair, Thomsonfly and XL Airways operate to/from Goa on a seasonal basis. Charter flights are available to and from several European countries such as the United Kingdom and Russia.

The Civil Aviation Ministry relaxed its charter flight policy whereby Indians residing abroad can also use charter flights, and all charter flight passengers (Indian and foreign) can stay in India for longer periods. This is expected to benefit non-resident Goans travelling on a 'visiting friends and relatives' (VFR) basis.

[edit] Military flight training

The military flight training at Dabolim is carried out on 5 days of the week from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and in the evenings (1900 hrs to 2030) on two of these days, during which hours civilian flights cannot operate. Charter airlines carrying international tourists during the season tend to use the freer civil aviation regimes on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and at night. The blocked time is about 15% of the total on a weekly basis.

[edit] Campaign to revert to civilian status

There has been a demand in local political circles for the restoration of Dabolim's civilian status by relocating the Indian Navy' air station to an airfield in the new INS Kadamba naval base at Karwar, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Dabolim in the adjoining state of Karnataka. However, the Indian Navy's top officers in Goa have hinted that the investment at Dabolim naval air station is 750 thousand million rupees (about $17 billion at 2006 rates) and that it would be impossible to replicate this at Karwar.[10]

In early 2007, there were reports of a concerted move by the Navy, the AAI, and the state of Karnataka to extend the runway planned at the naval base at Karwar to 2500 metres (8200 feet) to accommodate Airbus A320s and to acquire 75 extra hectares for this purpose.[11] However there have been no corresponding plans announced so far to relocate flight training from Dabolim to this airport or any other more convenient place. Meanwhile plans for the naval air station at Karwar have been put on the back-burner.

[edit] The Mopa option

Years ago the Navy accorded its approval to the civil aviation ministry's plans to locate a greenfield airport at Mopa in the northernmost tip of Goa. At the same time, the civil aviation ministry moved a resolution in March 2000 whereby Dabolim civil enclave would close once Mopa airport came on stream. The resolution was passed by the Union Cabinet. But opposition to such a prospect for historical and practical reasons, which was dormant since mid-2000, grew virulent in mid-2005 when ICAO submitted a report about the plans for the new Mopa "international" airport. It was felt that it would result in the closure of Dabolim civil enclave by default or by design.

Plans were then drawn up to upgrade Dabolim in the meantime and the consultant was asked to examine the feasibility of two airports in Goa. It has since given a tentative approval to a "dual airport" solution. Meanwhile the Navy's title to Dabolim airport land has been questioned by a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) of Goa in relation to the plan to relocate the civil enclave to the Mopa civilian airport on the grounds that it is the state government of Goa which authorises land transfers in its jurisdiction. He has disclosed that the Navy "literally" makes the state government and the Airports Authority of India "beg" for land needed at the airport. This made it imperative to establish the clear title to the airport land (Panjim HERALD, May 13, 2008, p.2).http://www.oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=3903&cid=26 The delays were apparently due to the structuring of these Dabolim deals as land-for-land at the instance of the Navy. This is in contrast to inter-governmental adjustments based on situation-specific military security assessments and demonstrable civilian needs.

The Goa government has now officially given an "in principle" approval to the civil aviation ministry to two airports in the state. The civil aviation minister has recently been propagating the vision of an airport in every district by 2020. Goa's two airports would conceivably be consistent with this.

[edit] Indian Navy's role

The early history of Dabolim naval air station is obscure but it is thought that it may have been hived off from Sulur IAF base near Coimbatore. But in 1983, the Indian Navy began inducting the BAE Sea Harrier into service, basing training activities at Dabolim. Now the base is expected to house four MIG-29KUBs that will be inducted into the navy with a complement of 12 single seater MIG-29Ks purchased with the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Russian navy's Admiral Gorshkov).

The MIG-29Ks are available and paid for but untried and untested anywhere in the operational context. A new round of flight training will begin in about a couple of years for the new planes.[12]

A mock-up of the 700-foot deck (14.3 degree ski-jump and all) is being built at Dabolim airport for training purposes as the aircraft carrier is slated to be based at Karwar. The move is in anticipation of a delay in delivery of the Russian aircraft carrier from 2008 to 2010 at the earliest. The MIG-29Ks cannot operate from any other carrier.

Meanwhile the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of the INS Viraat's Sea Harriers are carried out at the naval air station in Kochi.[13] The Navy is in the process of mid-life upgradation of these fighters at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore. A number of Harriers have gone for upgradation being undertaken with the help of the fighter's manufacturers, British Aerospace.

The Indian Navy's fleet of about 30 Sea Harriers (including 6 two seater trainers) has, over the past two decades, been halved (with a loss of 7 pilots' lives), entirely due to crashes during "routine sorties" for unspecifed failures. Only 3 trainer aircraft (two- seaters) remain, besides about 10 single-seater fighter aircraft. In 2006/7 (Dec-Dec)there have been four crashes of Sea Harriers, two of them while attempting vertical landings, of which one was during a multi-navy exercise at sea on INS Viraat and the other was at Dabolim airport on Christmas Eve morning, 2007.

The spate of recent crashes had resulted in flight restrictions. This may be ameliorated by a deal under which the U.K. would supply four Sea Harrier air frames which could be cannibalised for spares. An offer to locate a Harrier post design service station in India to overhaul and maintain the Navy's Sea Harriers was also made.

[edit] Tying things down

Besides the operation of STOVL aircraft, the Sea Harriers, the Navy also operates the Kamov-28 anti submarine helicopters, the IL-38 and TU-142M aircraft. Dabolim airbase also hosts exercises by the Indian Air Force's fighter bombers and it has facilities for the Indian Coast Guard which operates a fleet of small aircraft such as Dorniers. The beaches comprising 70% of Goa's 105 kilometre coast line are vulnerable to oil spills from the heavy tanker traffic in the Arabian Sea and capsizing of vessels engaged in coastal shipping as well as illegal discharge of dirty water from both. The Coast Guard is not yet able to operate at night. But the Indian Navy also carries out long range maritime patrols as far as the Horn of Africa from Dabolim using unarmed aircraft such as the Ilyushin Il-18.

Of late the Navy has been displaying its 3-plane aerobatic team, based at Dabolim. The team comprises three Kiran aircraft which carry out aerobatic displays at various locations in the country. The team is used in one or two annual public events in Goa for flypasts of 15 to 20 minutes duration. The Navy also operates a naval aviation museum at Dabolim airport. In the "active" list, the military has amassed some 40-50 aircraft of many types at Dabolim airport supposedly out of range of enemy fire.

The Government of India appointed a new Navy chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, on November 1, 2006. The officer has had a long association with Dabolim naval air station and is a staunch proponent of its continuation in perpetuity. In conjunction with what he called the Navy's "low intensity maritime operations" he said it had averted "various threats".[10]

[edit] Air cargo

Dabolim's potential for air cargo has not yet been seriously tapped. An estimated 5000 tonnes of cargo were handled annually as of a few years ago and may have declined since then. There is no worthwhile cargo complex especially for perishables like fish, fruits, flowers and vegetables for which there is a significant export market in the Gulf countries. Meanwhile Goa's pharmaceutical companies carry out their export/import operations via Mumbai airport. The customs staff in Dabolim's vicinity are focused on ship cargo. The Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) had been pleading for priority to air cargo for several years. The state government had even agreed, in principle, to allotting nearby land to AAI but there has been no perceptible progress in this direction.

[edit] Surface transport connectivity

Passengers can reach the airport using taxis, buses, trains, or automobiles. Public buses go to the nearby city of Vasco da Gama, approximately 4 km (2 mi) away, and also stop at the closer Chicalim bus stop, about 1.5 km from the airport. Local mini-buses connect both Vasco da Gama and Chicalim to the airport. Pre-paid taxis are available from the airport. There are various new transportation plans in the works, including the addition of a second bridge. Meanwhile plans for a 6-lane, north-to-south expressway are on hold in Goa. A nonorail system is also being considered. All these plans have implications for the proposed Mopa airport and its link to Dabolim and Goa's population centres.

Railway tracks of Indian Railways, which also run through Goa, pass beside the airport. The nearest station is at Vasco da Gama city. The port at Mormugao is located about 5 km away.

Konkan Railways provides services to Margao (Madgaon) in South Goa, Thivim or Tivim in North Goa, Karmali, and Ponda.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

  • On 1 October, 2002, two Ilyushin IL-18s collided and crashed near Dabolim airport killing 12 naval personnel in the planes and 3 civilians on the ground.
  • In December 2004 a Sea Harrier did a "belly flop" while landing. The pilot survived.[13]
  • In early 2005 a Sea Harrier overshot the runway while landing. The pilot survived.[13]
  • In December 2005 a Sea Harrier crashed through a steel wire barrier, broke through the perimeter wall, and went over a road before ending in a fireball on the other side. The pilot was killed.[13]
  • On 24 December 2007 a Sea Harrier crashed and burned at 11:15 AM while attempting a vertical landing with a full fuel tank at the eastern end of the runway. The pilot ejected to safety but civilian airport operations were halted for 90 minutes. Earlier, in September 2007 a Sea Harrier had crashed while attempting a vertical landing on INS Viraat in the Bay of Bengal during a multi-navy exercise. No casualty was reported.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Os Transportes Aereos Da India Portuguesa
  2. ^ During the Indian invasion of Goa, in December, 1961, the airport was bombarded by the Indian Air Force with part of the infrastructures being destroyed. Two civilian planes that were in the airport, one from TAP Portugal and the other from TAIP managed to escape during the night to Karachi. Gabriel de Figueiredo. A tale of a Goan Airport and Airline
  3. ^ Dabolim Airport (GOI) Details - India
  4. ^ HASG. Series of four infomercials titled "Save Dabolim Save Goa" in Herald and Navhind Times. March/April 2006.
  5. ^ Dabolim airport upgrading will be over by end of 2007. The Hindu. Retrieved on February 18, 2007
  6. ^ Goa Agenda: Goa Infrastructure Report. Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Undated (circa 2005/2006)
  7. ^ Dev Roy, Atreyee and Sharma, Rouhan. New Year Goa flights on a high. Financial Express.
  8. ^ The Skies Open Up Over India. Travel Daily News. October 26, 2005.
  9. ^ Vayalar, M. Jaipur to Guwahati, skies are all set to get busier. Times of India. February 13, 2007
  10. ^ a b D'Cunha C. "Room for more flights at Dabolim: Adm.Mehta". Goa Plus (The Times of India supplement). January 5, 2007
  11. ^ Government Exploring Possibilities opening of Karwar Airport for Civilian Air Services Press Information Bureau Government of India
  12. ^ India to receive MiG-29 from Russia in 2007. The Times of India. March 13, 2006
  13. ^ a b c d Unnithan, S. "Harrier Hassles". India Today. December 19, 2005

[edit] External links


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