Airport Director Gagan Malik along with other officials during the launch of Goa-London-Goa direct flights at Dabolim Airport.
VASCO
Air India has begun operating Goa-London direct flights from Dabolim airport, bringing much cheer among passengers travelling between the two places.
The first flight left Dabolim airport on Sunday with around 200-plus passengers, after an inaugural function at the airport.
Speaking to reporters, Dabolim Airport Director Gagan Malik said this was an important step because there has been a huge demand for direct flights between Goa and London.
"Amid the air bubble arrangement, direct flights between Goa and London have commenced from Sunday.”
“Earlier, these flights would come via Delhi and passengers would be deboarded and would come to Goa on separate flights, but now Air India has begun direct Goa-London flights.”
“These direct flights will initially be once a week in October and from November onwards, will be twice a week on Friday and Sunday. The first flight to London left with 224 passengers and these direct flights will operate till March.”
“Now, Goa will have eight direct flights to London every month which will cater to public demand for direct flights between Goa and London," said Malik.
The airport director said the situation had also improved significantly on the domestic sector.
"As of now, the State government has approved water sports and river cruises. Tourism in Goa is increasing day by day and this is a good sign because more passengers will now come to Goa. We handled around 29 flights with around 6000 passengers on Sunday.”
“After a very long time, we have witnessed a high volume of passengers. In the winter schedule beginning from October 25, Indigo is increasing 6 flights covering 4 destinations including Chennai, Nagpur and Lucknow.”
“Air Asia and Vistara also plan to increase 3 more flights each and the frequency of flights is increasing. We have around 5 flights to Delhi, 6 flights to Mumbai and 3 flights to Hyderabad as of now.”
“By November end, we expect to cross 50 percent of traffic that we had pre-Covid times," Malik added.
