Conduct surveys to increase international aviation in future: Chandrakant Patil

Patil was speaking at a review meeting held at Pune Airport, Lohegaon, along with officials from various government departments

State minister of higher and technical education, Chandrakant Patil, Thursday said that all aspects should be studied to increase the length of the runway for international aviation. Patil was speaking at a review meeting held at Pune Airport, Lohegaon, along with officials from various government departments.

State minister of higher and technical education, Chandrakant Patil was in Pune on Thursday. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

Patil said, “After the opening of the new terminal at Pune Airport, the necessary facilities will be available according to the needs of domestic (passenger) aviation, and all aspects should be studied to increase the length of the runway for international aviation.”

Also present at the review meeting were: Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao; Pune police commissioner Retesh Kumaar; Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh; Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) commissioner Rahul Mahiwal; Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) additional commissioner Vikas Dhakne; and Airport Authority of India (AAI) Pune director Santosh Dhoke.

Patil said, “Due to the new terminal, 10 new parking lots equipped with aerobridge/s will be available and the number of daily flight operations will reach 218. Therefore, an adequate system will be created in terms of domestic air transport. Along with this, efforts will have to be made to increase international aviation in future. Accordingly, necessary studies and surveys should be carried out as instructed to the officials. While a meeting will be held soon in the presence of the chief minister and deputy chief minister regarding accelerating the work of Purandar Airport.”

Dhoke led a presentation informing about the flight services at Pune Airport. “Around 30,000 passengers travel from Pune Airport every day, of which around 540 are international passengers. In 2022-23, eight million passengers took advantage of the air services here through 59,451 flights whereas till September this year, more than 47 lakh passengers took advantage of the air services at Pune Airport through 31,591 flights. This number is likely to double once the new terminal opens,” Dhoke said.

The New Integrated Terminal Building (NITB) has a total built-up area of 50,000 square metres, and the completed building will have 10 aerobridges and 72 check-in counters. Three aerobridges will be connected to the old- and new- terminal buildings. The Pune airport expansion project includes construction of a new terminal building at a cost of ₹475 crores; a multilevel car parking at a cost of ₹120 crores; and a new cargo complex at a cost of about of ₹300 crores. The construction of the new terminal building has been completed, and it is towards the eastern side of the existing terminal building.

While the size of the current terminal building is 22,300 square metres, once the new terminal building comes up, the total size of the airport will be 74,300 square metres. The work of the NITB was awarded to a company named ITD Cementation India Ltd. While France-based company ‘Egis’ has been appointed as a consultant for the work.