Panaji: Domestic and international travelers passing through Goa international airport will soon be able to pick from a wide variety of cuisine and beverage options. As part of its modernization drive, airports authority of India (AAI) has awarded the food and beverage master concessionaire contract to Travel Food Services Ltd.
AAI officials said international restaurant chains like KFC, Haagen Dazs, Pizza Hut, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf could be part of the culinary offerings at the lone airport in the state, which would improve customer experience.

Travel Food Services has been successfully running multiple F&B outlets at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, and AAI officials hope to have the new dining options operational within the next six months.

For years, domestic and international air passengers have been critical of the existing catering service, which consists of just one restaurant and one food stall for the seven million passengers who pass through the airport annually.

An earlier attempt to revamp the dining options at Goa international airport failed and AAI quickly made a fresh attempt to appoint a new agency. AAI had approached five agencies to set up and operate food and beverage outlets at the airport after the earlier concessionaire agreement ended on March 31 this year.

To quicken the process, AAI has asked the companies which qualified on a technical basis in January to resubmit financial bids by July 24.

Union aviation minister Suresh Prabhu recently reviewed the modernisation drive taken up by AAI at Goa International Airport, Dabolim, and had directed them to abide by the timelines.

Goa international airport has already started the process of revamping the retail space at the airport and has appointed a Future Group-led consortium to run the airport retail business.