Goa's 2025 tourism season to begin on Oct 2 with arrival of flight from Russia

Panaji, Oct 1 (PTI) Goa’s tourism season this year will officially start on October 2 with the arrival of the first international flight from Russia in the state.

The flight from Novosibirsk city in Russia will arrive at the Manohar International Airport in North Goa in the early hours of Thursday.

The state Tourism Department will welcome the international travellers arriving by flight at the Manohar International Airport at 1.30 am, a senior official said.

The arrival of the flight will herald the international tourist season in the state, which has already set up its beach shacks to welcome the guests.

“The flight will be carrying 120 passengers,” said Sheik Ismail, senior vice president of Concord Exotic Voyages, which is handling the flight operated

by Aeroflot, a Russian airline.

It is for the first time that a direct flight from Novosibirsk is flying to Goa, adding another destination from Russia to the coastal Indian state, he said.

Novosibirsk is the most populous city in Siberia and the third-most populous city in Russia after Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Ismail said that his company will handle three flights each from Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, and Moscow every week, making nine flights weekly from Russia from this month onwards which may extend till May next year.

Ernest Dias, vice president of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, said the international tourist season looks brighter this time.

Besides the scheduled flights that are originating from places like Novosibirsk, chartered flights will also arrive in the state from there.

Dias said the international arrivals through FITs (Free Independent Travellers) will also be witnessed in the state.

Meanwhile, Goa is all set to usher in the season with the tourism department allocating licences for putting up shacks on the beaches.

Cruz Cardoso, president of Shack Owners Welfare Society, told PTI that Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte has already given licences to majority of the shacks, so that they can be ready for welcoming tourists before time.

Last year, 355 licences were allotted at various beaches across the state, he said, adding that the figure for this year would be clear only at the end of October.

As per the data, a total of 1.04 crore tourists arrived in the state during the calendar year 2024, of whom 4.67 lakh were international. PTI RPS NP