Today's Times of India has a story headlined "Dabolim's closure will hit economy: Its fate has given rise to mixed reactions". This seems to be a fall out of the Herald report (see my post of July 18th). The TOI report, which highlights the views of some people in high places, is a stark illustration of the onset of either a panic attack or the dawning of some wisdom, however faint. Curtorim MLA Reginald Lourenco (probably an ally of Churchill Alemao, PWD Minister) says flatly that "Dabolim will be shut down" (despite the CM's call for two airports in Goa?). The report doesnt offer his reasoning which could back up his claim.
Meanwhile, Jose Philip D'Souza the Vasco MLA says " [Dabolim's] closure is unthinkable and absurd". He may be in for a huge surprise unless he gets on the learning curve of airport development in India (more about this later). However, Cortalim MLA Mauvin Godinho, Deputy Speaker, is relying on the 'insurance' of Rs 480 crores upgradation funds promised for Dabolim. "There is no question of even speculating [on] Dabolim's closure." He too may be in for a big surprise. This is because the pumping in of big sums for the upgradation of HAL airport in Bangalore did not deter the government a all from signing on the dotted line to close it when the new airport was ready. Despite protests from the end of last year, this closure was effected at the end of May 2008 just as Hyderabad's Begumpet was closed in March. The developers had water-tight legal papers. It turns out that, (according to AAI, no less), HAL's capacity was a whopping 7.5 million passengers per annum, not the piddling 3.8 million claimed by the new airport developer (which has begun with only about 10 million). HAL airport is practically a ghost town now. What a waste of valuable airport capacity when there is air space congestion all around! The people of the Vasco area like Godinho, D'souza and Lourenco, should be very worried. And those of the rest of Goa too. As for Dabolim, it has a 3000 m jumbo jet runway. Who invested in its extension over the years from 2000 m in the 1960s? What will it be used for if it is closed? The occasional VIP flights for a Goa holiday! And of course the daily training flights of jets which are supposed to operate from 300 m carrier decks! Who knows, one day an Indian space shuttle may land at Dabolim since it would be lying unused! What is the way out? The TOI report says "Churchill Alemao [is] in his mission to ensure Dabolim airport does not close". So far (since 2005) this been nothing other than blocking Mopa airport from seeing the light of day. He may be taking a more enlightened view now although one cant be too sure of such a thing from him. Perhaps he accepts that the government is committed to two airports. What he has to ensure is that Mopa does not lead to Dabolim's closure by default. This can happen for the following reasons described in my July 18 post. <If the airport access continues to be a problem (as in Bangalore andHyderabad) then the developers will insist on a provision to close Dabolim when Mopa is ready. Otherwise no one will use Mopa and it will be a white elephant (as especially Bangalore would have been without it). **If closure is not assured and access is a problem then Mopa cannot be an international airport but more likely a regional one albeit with future aspirations to be international**. If access is also taken care of then Dabolim would be at risk of closure as airlines would switch over to Mopa.> So all should push for a regional airport at Mopa. This will not duplicate Dabolim's traffic (and vacuum it away) but rather supplement/expand it in Goa's interest. The initial investment will not be outlandish but there would be a need to expand, upgrade, invest etc every few years as traffic (hopefully) grows. (This means the required/available Mopa land has to be securely "banked" for the future). Meanwhile Dabolim would also upgrade and invest (hopefully a bit more speedily than in the past when constraints were pronounced). And the planned highway or expresway development would proceed at its own pace, with maximum quality and minimum corruption. This is the way forward. As mentioned previously people have to be able to view (and shape) the venture in a "win-win" way (not "my rival is benefitting so I should oppose"). The problem is that this represents a paradigm shift from the way (two) airports have been developed in India so far. Will Goa have the intellectual and managerial firepower to push the new paradigm through? What the Goa CM said, "When there are two airports, let the airlines exercise the option where to land their aircraft", may be exactly the WRONG thing (except in aviation emergencies) and does not inspire confidence! The sooner it gets on the proper aviation learning curve, and moves fast on it, the better for Goa --- and even India!
