E-Paper
Lohegaon airport: Flyer footfall touches 10K on weekdays; 15K over weekends
The number of flights at Lohegaon airport has increased to 55 daily. The number has gone up with a few flights resuming and flights to new centres added as well. The passenger footfall reaches around 15,000 over the weekend, said an official
With the majority of people having taken both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, the footfall of flyers has increased to about 10,000 on weekdays and around 15,000 over weekends at Pune’s Lohegaon airport. Flights resuming to other centres is also one of the major factors behind the rise in flyer footfall at the airport. Both the number of flyers and flights have increased as compared to 2020 but they are still lower than 2019 when passenger traffic was 23,000 (arrival and departure).
Santosh Dhoke, director, Lohegaon airport, said, “The number of flights has increased to 55 daily. The number has gone up with a few flights resuming and flights to new centres added as well. The passenger footfall reaches around 15,000 over the weekend.” New flights to Ranchi, Tirupati and Thiruvananthapuram have started from Pune airport while flights to Goa and Jaipur have also resumed.
Another official from Lohegaon airport said, “With the festive season ahead, we are expecting an increase in the number of flyers but if the anticipated third wave stays away, even higher footfalls are expected during Diwali and Christmas
Increasing vaccination percentage is one of the main reasons for the rise in passenger footfalls at the airport. “Now flyers are more relaxed after taking the vaccine. Earlier, the fear of Covid was higher but people are now coming out and have become used to Covid guidelines and regulations,” the official said.
Runway of Shirdi airport expanded
The pending runway work of the Shirdi international airport has been completed and the runway has been increased from the earlier 2,500 metre to 3,200 metre. The extended length will be beneficial for the landing of big aircraft including airbus.
The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) completed the long pending work in six months. However, the airport is still not operational for night landing. “The airport is yet to get clearance from the India Meteorological Department. Other formalities and required work have been completed from our end,” said an official from MADC.
Cargo service should start from Kolhapur: Satej Patil
Maharashtra IT minister Satej Patil who is also the guardian minister of the Kolhapur district has written to Jyotiraditya Scindia, civil aviation minister of India, regarding the starting of a cargo service from Kolhapur airport as it will benefit Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara for import and export of commodities. Currently, there are flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Tirupati but there is no cargo service.
The minister also requested to start flights to places like Nagpur, Goa, Pune, Jaipur, Mysore and Delhi. Many people prefer to travel from Kolhapur to Pune and Goa via road but flights will give a good option to the people of Kolhapur. There is also demand to start night landing at the airport.
