Blessed with a good climate, there is a year round tourist rush to Goa. Both domestic and international tourists are attracted to the land of sun, sea and sand and wild parties. There are around 30 to 40 flights daily to Goa. Dabolim is the only airport serving Goa. It is not an international airport. It is located near the port city of Vasco da Gama about 28 km from Panaji, the capital of Goa. Dabolim is ranked among the top ten in the country in terms of passenger traffic. During peak season from Christmas to New Year, there is a steep hike in the air fares.
Domestic Airlines
Direct flights to Goa are available from almost all the major Indian cities. These are operated by key domestic airline companies. Some also offer cheap flights to Goa. Dabolim is connected to about ten Indian airports out of the 132 in the country. But it connects 35% of the most active ones in the network.
GoAir operates from Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai; Air India from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai; IndiGo from Delhi and Mumbai; Jet Airways from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai; JetLite from Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai; Kingfisher Airlines from Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune; SpiceJet from Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai
International Airlines
Earlier, only Air India and Indian Airlines were permitted to operate scheduled flights to or from Goa. Now, few foreign operators have obtained permission to do the same. Some of the international carriers flying to Goa are British Airways, Emirates Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines, United Airlines, Cathy Pacific Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Alitalia, Gulf Air, Air France, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Qantas Airlines. There are an estimated 700 international flights per year to Goa.
Also today, few European charter airlines fly to Goa seasonally in the peak winter season. Aeroflot operates seasonal flights to and from Moscow-Sheremetyevo; Air Arabia to and from Sharjah; Air Italy Polska offers seasonal charter from and to Warsaw. Arkefly flies seasonal charter to and from Amsterdam, Condor connects Goa and Frankfurt; Edelweiss Air seasonally from Zürich; Monarch Airlines operates seasonal charter flights from London-Gatwick and Manchester; Novair from Gothenburg-Landvetter, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda; Qatar Airways with Doha. Thomas Cook Airlines operates seasonal charter from London-Gatwick and Manchester; Thomson Airways with East Midlands, London-Gatwick and Manchester. From this month, Ukraine International Airlines will introduce services from Abu Dhabi and Kiev-Boryspil. Transaero will also begin seasonal flights from Moscow-Domodedovo, St.Petersburg, Yekaterinburg from 28 December.
From the US, there are no direct flights to Goa. From New York, Washington DC and Houston, Qatar Airways runs indirect flights to Goa. Air India also operates indirect flight from New York, Chicago and Washington DC. Most of the other international flights fly into Delhi, Mumbai, or Chennai from where connecting flights can be caught.
