A brand new greenfield airport in North Goa’s Pernem district, Mopa Airport is built around the theme of sustainable infrastructure.
Officially named as Manohar International Airport after the late Manohar Parrikar, the former chief minister of the state, Mopa Airport was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2022. This is the second international air hub in Goa, and is scheduled to go operational for domestic flights starting January 5, 2023.
The brand new airport in North Goa will be operated by the GMR Group (Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao), the Indian multinational conglomerate that has been successfully running Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Built around the theme of sustainability, the foundation of this greenfield airport was laid by the Prime Minister back in November 2016.
Along with running regular domestic flights, Mopa Airport will offer cargo facilities too. According to the government, the first of the airport will cater to around 44 lakh passengers per annum, which can be expanded to a saturation capacity of 33 lakh. The count will go up to one crore once the entire project is completed.
What’s more: Developed at a cost of around ₹2,870 crores, the newly-built airport has adopted some of the best-in-class technologies such as 3-D monolithic precast buildings, stabilroad, robomatic hollow precast walls, 14 parking bays, and 5G compatible IT infrastructure. The airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and has a solar power plant, green buildings, LED lights on the runway, rainwater harvesting, state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant with recycling options, among other such facilities.
Where: Mopa Airport is strategically located in the Mopa village of North Goa’s Pernem district. It is about 30 km away from the capital Panjim, and around 55 km from the Goa International Airport in southern part of the Sunshine State. The pristine village is popular for its hill-hidden springs and Gudi Padwa festivities.
How: Indigo has reportedly announced 12 daily and 168 weekly new flights to and from the new airport, which the airline said would be its largest-ever new station launch. GO First is also planning to operate 42 direct flights every week from the airport.
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