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Chaos at Pune airport as runway lights suffer technical issues
Flyers faced chaos at Pune international airport Monday evening as runway lights suffered technical issues and 22 flights were delayed
PUNE: Flyers faced chaos at Pune international airport Monday evening as runway lights suffered technical issues. Between 6pm and 9pm, a total 22 flights including 12 arrivals and 10 departures, were delayed. Flights from Pune to Nagpur, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata were delayed. An Air India Delhi to Pune flight was diverted to Hyderabad while a Spice Jet Kolkata to Pune flight was diverted to Mumbai. The irate flyers took to Twitter to vent their anger.
Sudhir Mehta, president, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), tweeted, “My Delhi to Pune flight was diverted to Hyderabad due to non-functional runway lights at Pune airport. The litany of woes at Pune airport continues. How badly the city needs an alternate airport! Unfortunately, we are the largest ignored urban conglomeration in the country.”
Gopal Krishna tweeted, “I am on one of the Air India flights waiting to take-off from Pune airport. The flight was supposed to take-off at 5.50pm and land in Delhi at 8.10pm but as of 8.30pm, it is still stuck at Pune airport. While a Vistara flight that landed after we boarded is already on its way to take-off.”
Another user tweeted, “Indigo is becoming the worst service these days. The flight was delayed by two hours. The staff at Pune airport is arrogant.”
The Spice Jet Pune to Kolkata flight which city-based journalist, Tania Roy’s parents boarded finally took-off at 8.45pm. “Earlier, the flight was scheduled at 3pm after which the airline sent the message that it will take off at 7pm. When my parents reached the airport, they had to wait for an hour and forty-five minutes. I don’t understand why people have to still deal with such issues even after the Pune airport remained closed for 14 days. It is harrowing, especially for senior citizens and children,” Roy said.
The Pune airport remained closed from October 16 to 29 and was reopened on October 30. In the first week after reopening, airport authorities had to face a lot of problems as there was a lot of rush and flyers had to wait for hours to check-in. On a few occasions, flights were delayed while a few flyers missed flights during Diwali week. The airport is operating 24x7 since November 1. The daily passenger footfall at Pune airport is around 1,900.
