Dabolim International Airport is a civil and military airport located in Dabolim, a village located 4km from Vasco da Gama in Goa, India. The airport is located 30km from Panaji, the state’s capital. It is spread across an area of 702ha and serves Goa and Vasco da Gama.
The airport handled 3.54 million passengers and 27,690 aircraft movements in 2012.
Dabolim International Airport was constructed by the Government of the Estado da Ãndia Portuguesa. It is currently owned by the State Government of Goa and the Indian Navy, and operated by Airports Authority of India. Dabolim International also serves as a launch pad for the military.
The airport operates over 700 international flights annually and contributes approximately 90% of India’s international charter tourist flight operations.A new airport is planned to be built at Mopa in northern part of Goa to decrease traffic congestion in Dabolim Airport. The proposal to build the new public airport was also taken because the joint usage of Dabolim Airport for Navy and civilian is limiting its operations.
Passenger terminal details of the Dabolim International Airport
The airport has a domestic and an international terminal. The domestic terminal was constructed in 1983 and covers an area of 2,000m² (21,527ft²). It has a capacity to handle 350 arrival and departure passengers at a time.
The international terminal, which was built in 1996, covers an area of 1,000m² (10,763ft²). It has a capacity to handle 250 arrival and departure passengers simultaneously.A new integrated terminal facilitating domestic and international services was opened in 2013 as part of an expansion of the airport facilities.
Expansion of Dabolim International Airport
The terminal building at Dabolim International Airport was originally constructed to handle 700 passengers per hour at peak times. But the airport has been experiencing passenger traffic of 2,200 passengers per hour, which is three times its designated capacity.
A new 61,957m² (666,900ft²) integrated terminal facility and several other expansions were planned in order to reduce the congestion at the passenger terminal. The foundation stone for the project was laid in 2009. The project includes the construction of passenger and cargo terminals, and parallel taxiways.
The new terminal can handle four million passenger per year or 2,750 passengers per hour. It includes an in-line baggage scanning system, five passenger boarding bridges, and 64 CUTE®-enabled check-in counters.
An investment of over INR 3.45bn ($56m) was made on the new integrated terminal while over INR 5bn ($81.4m) is being invested in allied work at the airport. A further $6.5m worth terminal expansion is approved on the western side of the building to enhance the passenger capacity. Three more passenger boarding bridges will be added as part of the expansion.
Details of the new integrated terminal building
The new integrated terminal building is built over three levels including the ground floor. Check-ins for domestic and international arrival and departures, and remote domestic arrival and departures are located in the ground floor.
The first floor is meant for domestic and international passenger arrivals and contains security, customs and immigration counters. Domestic and international security hold facility is situated in the second floor.
The in line compatible baggage handling system, substation and other services are located in the basement of the building.
The terminal is built up in an area of 63,913m2 and features a multi-level car-parking facility that can accommodate up to 570 cars. The building can handle 3.2 million domestic passengers and 800,000 international passengers. Access to different levels of the terminal is facilitated by 15 elevators and 12 escalators.
Contractors for Dabolim Airport terminal expansion
Consolidated Construction Consortium, a company based in Chennai, was awarded the construction contract for the expansion. Construction started in May 2011 and was finished in 2013.
Dabolim Airport runway details
Dabolim airport has a single runway (8/26) of 2,390m length. It is asphalt-surfaced and can accommodate Boeing 747 aircraft.
Other airport systems and infrastructure at Dabolim International
The airport lacks a fuel firm and parking hangars, which will require an area of 50,000m² (538,196ft²) to 60,000m² (645,834ft²). The government is currently negotiating with the Navy authorities on issuing the required land to establish these facilities.
An underground cable linking the airport to the Sancoale power substation was laid with an investment of INR 20m ($365,730), in order to provide uninterrupted power supply to the airport. An advanced sewerage treatment plant was also commissioned at the airport as part of the recent expansion.
