Goa airport to remain shut every Saturday for repair works

Goa International Airport located at Dabolim is reportedly going to be shut every Saturday for six hours. This is going to happen from November 2, 2019, and the decision has been taken by the Indian Navy. The reason for this is to do maintenance work of its runway, which has deteriorated after the recent spell of heavy rains.
Dabolim airport in Goa is only partly a civilian facility, as the rest of it is the Navy’s airbase of INS Hansa. According to a Navy spokesperson, the closing of airports on Saturdays will not affect civilian planes.
According to the statement furnished by the spokesperson, "The Navy held a meeting with the Airports Authority of India and all airline operators, including chartered flight operators, on August 1 to discuss the winter flight schedule on weekends in order to facilitate periodic maintenance of the Goa airport's runway."

It was also said that only one international charter service provider (Thomson Airways) would be impacted during the closure every Saturday. Thomson Airways have however been alloted a different slot. The maintenance slot has been proposed to be between 6:30 and 12:30 hours every Saturday. According to the Navy, major airports usually have six to seven hours maintenance slots for runway repairs. Therefore, it is important that the Dabolim airport get minimum of six hours of repair time every Saturday.