Infrastructure
First Successful Commercial Test Flight Conducted At Goa's Mopa International Airport
- The first phase of the new airport is expected to cost around Rs 1,800 crores and carry 3.4 million passengers.
- By 2045, the airport is expected to be able to handle 13.1 million passengers.
Indigo's A321 making its way through the water cannon salute (Via Twitter)
On 5 September, the first commercial aircraft successfully landed and took off from Goa's future international airport at Mopa. It was part of the airport's Required Navigation Performance (RNP).
The New Goa International Airport has reached a crucial milestone toward the airport's commissioning with this successful RNP flight.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, "as a part of the testing protocol, a commercial flight of Indigo Airlines A-320 aircraft, which came from Mumbai with DGCA officials onboard, successfully landed at Mopa Airport's new runway today," reports Economic Times.
The RNP process must be evaluated and confirmed for accuracy and flyability using simulator and actual aircraft trials after it has been designed for a specific runway of an airfield.
Following the established procedure, the defined flight path is tested during this step by flying an aeroplane with RNP equipment. The processes are published and propagated for use by all airlines following successful validation and certification.
Goa GMR International Airport CEO R V Seshan said, "The required navigation performance procedure has been successfully completed at New Goa International Airport today. The RNP method enables an aeroplane to follow predetermined trajectories by utilising equipment on board while ensuring integrity and accuracy."
"This process not only promotes safety through its precision and accuracy, but it also improves operating efficiency by minimising multiple step-downs and inaccurate circular approaches, among other things, " he added.
The project was put on hold first after the Supreme Court granted a stay due to environmental concerns, which caused a delay of more than a year.
A new deadline was set for the project's completion: "anywhere between the end of 2021 and early 2022."
"Inauguration of Mopa International Airport may have been delayed. But we are completing the work by 23 October and will inaugurate it at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Sawant said.
GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Airports Limited, is developing the Greenfield Airport at Mopa in North Goa.
This project is being executed on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model via a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.
GGIAL will operate the airport for 40 years, extendable by 20 years, as per broad lease agreements.
While the original estimate for constructing the airport was Rs 1,900 crore, it was later revised to Rs 2,615 crore due to the cost escalation and time overrun caused by environment-related litigations.
The Covid-19 pandemic also disrupted the project completion schedule.
Since Goa's second international airport was first proposed in May 2000, activists have fought against its construction near Mopa village, 35 km from Panaji.
The first phase of the new airport is expected to cost around Rs 1,800 crores and carry 3.4 million passengers.
By 2045, the airport is expected to be able to handle 13.1 million passengers.
