Dabolim Airport is an international airport serving the state of Goa, India. It is the primary airport of the state of Goa. It is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as a civil enclave in an Indian Navy naval airbase named INS Hansa. The airport is located in Dabolim, in South Goa district, from the nearest city of Vasco da Gama, from Margao, and about from the state capital, Panaji.
The airport's integrated terminal was inaugurated in December 2013. It was designed by Creative Group, an India-based architecture firm. In fiscal year 2022-2023, the airport handled around 8.5 million passengers. Several European charter airlines fly to Goa seasonally, typically between November and May. Flights from the UK (London Gatwick Airport and Manchester Airport) are operated by TUI Airways. There are also several seasonal charter flights to various Russian cities.
Because of capacity constraints at the terminal and air traffic congestion due to the military and naval presence, a second airport at Mopa was proposed. It completed its construction on 11 December 2022, with operations starting from 5 January 2023. It is located approximately away from Dabolim Airport.
History
The airport was built in 1955 by the Government of the Estado da Índia Portuguesa, on of land, as the Aeroporto de Dabolim, which was later officially renamed Aeroporto General Bénard Guedes. Until 1961, the airport served as the main hub of the Portuguese India's airline TAIP (Transportes Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa), which on a regular schedule served Daman, Diu, Karachi, Mozambique, Portuguese Timor, and other destinations.
During the Annexation of Goa, in December 1961, the airport was bombarded by the Indian Air Force with parts of the infrastructure being destroyed. Two civilian planes that were in the airport – a Lockheed Constellation from TAP (Transportes Aéreos Portugueses) and a Douglas DC-4 from TAIP – managed to escape with refugees, during the night, to Karachi. In April 1962, it was occupied by the Indian Navy's air wing when 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, Daman and Diu in June 1962.
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. A new domestic terminal building was built in 1983, designed to process 350 arrivals and departures simultaneously, while the international terminal, built in 1996 was designed for 250.
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 at Dabolim a few years later, pioneered by Condor Airlines of Germany.
In 2006, the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry announced a plan to upgrade Dabolim Airport. 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 . The construction was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007. However delays in transfer of the required land from the Navy held up proceedings.
The modernisation project of Dabolim Airport was one of 35 airport expansion projects undertaken by the AAI and, in terms of size and money, was its third largest project after the ones at Chennai and Kolkata airports. It included the construction of an integrated terminal building to replace the older terminals, a multi-level car parking (MLCP) facility to accommodate between 540 and 570 cars and construction of additional parking stands for aircraft. The AAI acquired additional land from the Indian Navy and the State Government for apron expansion and the expansion of the older international terminal building complex. The foundation stone for the terminal was laid on 21 February 2009, the project work began in May 2010 and construction of the terminal began in May 2011. The terminal can handle 2,750 peak hour passengers, cost 3.45 billion and was inaugurated on 3 December 2013.