116 passengers fly into Goa on six domestic flights

PANAJI: Goa International Airport handled six domestic flights on Sunday with one flight returning without any passengers. Passenger footfalls on Sunday were markedly lower with just 116 passengers arriving and 108 people taking flights out. IndiGo and Alliance Air were the only airlines to operate as domestic scheduled carriers continued to face a tepid demand for seats.
Two repatriation flights from Italy and Dubai are being worked out to bring in stranded seafarers and Goans back.Sources said that clearances for the flights to land have yet to be granted but the procedure has begun. Sources said that the flights are being chartered by cruise companies and the modalities of the flights are being worked out to permit the flights to land on Monday or Tuesday.
While the flight from Italy will bring stranded seafarers, the flight from Dubai is expected to bring home Goan expats working in the Middle East.
Aside from this, two Sri-Lankan Airline flights are expected to land at Goa International Airport with 200-odd Indian seafarers who signed off from vessels in Sri Lanka.
Sources also suggested that among the flights waiting for clearance to land at Goa International Airport, a flight from London for stranded Goans is also being discussed.
Till date, more than 800 seafarers have returned to Goa by flights or by road since the lockdown was imposed in the country.