Panaji, July 11 BJP MLA Michael Lobo has said that he will raise the issue of diversion of flights to Bengaluru due to ‘low visibility’ at Manohar International Airport at Mopa in North Goa.
Stating that he himself had to face the problem while travelling from Mumbai to Goa, former Minister Lobo said that these incidents are marring the tourism sector.
MIA is operated by GMR Airport Infrastructure Limited.
“Manohar International Airport is facing issues of low visibility during late night. There are major problems with fog early in the morning and also dew. As this airport is situated in the hilly area, during rainy season clouds settle above the runway and hence pilot finds difficulties to landing the flight,” Lobo said
“They should introduce new technology to combat this issue. I was on a flight from Mumbai to Mopa-Goa. It took me two and half hours to reach here, as the flight could not land though the pilot made four attempts. Then they announced that it would be diverted to Bengaluru,” he said.
“Many flights are facing similar problems and are taken to Bengaluru. Tourists are facing problems, who come to spend time in Goa, they are taken to Bengaluru because of these issues,” Lobo said, adding tourists' complaints to him about this issue.
“I will raise this issue in the assembly session and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will have to intervene in it. He should speak to the GMR group to find out a solution for this problem,” he said.
“No visibility issue is faced by many International airports, but they don’t divert flights. Because they have the technology, GMR needs to opt for such,” he said.
He also pointed out that there should be a system in place wherein instead of diverting flights to Bengaluru, they can be landed at Dabolim airport in South Goa.
Speaking to IANS, GMR officials said that an Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at an airport is a facility that coordinates and manages the safe takeoff, landing, and ground movement of aircraft.
"In India, all ATC towers, except those controlled by the defence forces, are handled by the AAI. They decide on a diversion of flights when the issue of low visibility is faced," he said.
--IANS
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