First flight lands at new Manohar International Airport in Goa

PANAJI: The first commercial flight landed at the new Goa airport on Thursday morning.

The operations were commenced by Indigo with a direct flight between Hyderabad-Goa, and Delhi to new Goa airport making it the 76th domestic and 102nd overall destination in 6E network. IndiGo will operate 168 weekly flights between Mopa and eight domestic destinations like Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, IndiGo said.

The new network will cater to the increasing demand owing to the popularity of Goa as a preferred leisure travel destination and will provide more options to the customers, making travel more affordable and enhancing direct connectivity to North Goa. The present Goa Dabolim Airport, South Goa will remain active, and IndiGo continues its existing operations there.

"We are excited and proud with this largest ever, new station opening for us at New North Goa International Airport in Mopa. It's momentous for us at IndiGo to have such a massive opening and it speaks to our ambition and endeavor to provide connectivity, ease of accessibility and ever more options for our customers to one of the most visited tourist destinations of the country. We continue to stay true to our promise of affordable fares, on-time performance, courteous and hassle-free service, connecting people with the places they love," said Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer of IndiGo.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Goa's second international airport at Mopa in North Goa. The new international airport is located in the northern part of Goa, about 35 km away from Panaji, the capital city of Goa. The bustling location of the airport will provide travellers ease of access to nearby tourist attractions.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for naming Greenfield International Airport Mopa in Goa as 'Manohar International Airport--Mopa, Goa', as a tribute to the late Manohar Parrikar, former Defence Minister and four-time Goa Chief Minister. Earlier airlines like Indigo and GoFirst have already announced plans to launch 168 and 42 flights, respectively, from the new airport.