The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has granted the airport license for the new Mopa Airport in Goa, paving the way for the launch of commercial flights at the airport to be operated by the GMR Group.

This will be the second airport in Goa, the first in Dabolim in the city of Mormugao. The new airport is about 35 km from Panjim in the north of Goa.

Mopa Airport is being built in four phases with an annual passenger capacity of 4.4 million in phase I, which will increase to 5.8 million in phase II and eventually to 13.1 million passengers per year when phase IV is completed.

GMR Airports Ltd (GAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, had signed a concession agreement with the Government of Goa in November 2016 for the development and operation of a greenfield international airport.

GAL's subsidiary GMR Goa International Airport is developing the project, which is based on Design, Build, Financing, Operation and Transfer (DBFOT).

In September, the operator completed landing tests for both approaches - 10 and 28 - of the newly built runway.

Currently, only 70 flights a day land at Dabolim airport and no landing is allowed from 9am to 2pm. After the opening of Mopa airport, the number of flights landing in Goa will increase to 150, Prime Minister Pramod Sawant said in July this year.