 "Airlines, airport, aviation, flights")
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate the Mopa International Airport in Goa on Sunday, official sources said the number of operational airports in the country has almost doubled from 74 to over 140 since he took over in 2014.
The government plans to develop and operationalise 220 airports in the next five years, they said.
Modi has laid a strong emphasis on boosting connectivity and led this initiative from the front, inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of various airports, the sources said.
He had inaugurated greenfield Donyi Polo Airport at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh in November, Deoghar Airport in July, laid the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh in November last year and inaugurated Kushinagar International Airport, a famous Buddhist site, in October last year.
The Mopa International Airport's foundation stone was also laid by the prime minister in November 2016. This will be the second airport in Goa, the first one being located at Dabolim. The Mopa airport offers several upgrades over the one in Dabolim, officials said.
The current passenger handling capacity of the Dabolim airport is 8.5 MPPA (million passengers per annum). With Mopa airport coming into operation, the total passenger handling capacity will become around 13 MPPA, they said.
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Also, taking into account the full expansion capacity, the airports in Goa have the potential to increase their capacity from around 10.5 to 43.5 MPPA, the officials said.
While the Dabolim airport offers direct connections with 15 domestic and six international locations, it will now increase to 35 domestic and 18 international locations with the new airport, they said.
The Mopa airport has the provision for night parking facility as well, which was not available at Dabolim airport. Moreover, while there was no cargo terminal at Dabolim, the Mopa airport will have the facility with a handling capacity of 25,000 MT, the officials said.
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