Goa is set to launch its second international airport in North Goa which will be inaugurated in Mopa near Panjim on 11 December 2022. Flights will start from 5 January 2023.
GMR will operate New Goa Airport in Mopa similar to in Delhi and Hyderabad. IndiGo and GO FIRST have aready announced flights to eight Indian cities from GOX, the new airport’s IATA code.
Mopa is a village in Pernem in North Goa and the airport is about 35 km from Panjim, and approximately 100 km from South Goa.
Currently, travellers have to fly to Dabolim International Airport near Panjim, which is an airfield shared with the Indian Navy. The airport is stretched–private carriers are not allowed to operate for nearly four hours each morning, and the terminal is packed to the gills at peak times. The New Goa Airport at Mopa is expected to ease this situation and will also offer ample parking space on the premises, which the Dabolim airport lacks.
Airlines are expected to shift some of their flights to the New Goa Airport in Mopa after it is fully operational. If you already have a flight booked for 5 January or later from and to Goa, look out for an SMS or some other notification from your airline.
IndiGo is going all-in with 168 flights a week to and from the New Goa Airport, making it the carrier’s largest station launch. These will connect Mopa with eight major cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. The flights between Mopa and Chennai will operate daily, except on Wednesdays. Those between Mopa and Ahmedabad will operate daily, except on Sundays. The first flight from Mopa to Pune (one hour five minutes long) is set to take off on 5 January at 11:20pm.
GO FIRST will run 42 non-stop weekly flights to and from the airport, with its first flight taking off from Bengaluru to Goa on 5 January at 8.50 am. The airline will connect Goa with Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. As per the roster, which has flights slotted till 25 March 2023 as of now, all flights will run seven days a week.
