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Pune airport runway re-carpeting work: No flights after 8 pm may prolong beyond October
Pune airport authorities stated that the work is expected to continue beyond the deadline due to reasons, including the Covid situation, and flight restrictions may prolong
Pune: The Pune International Airport at Lohegaon has no flights between 8 pm and 8 am due to the runway repair work scheduled to be completed by October this year. However, the work is expected to extend beyond the October deadline. The airport authorities are carrying out runway re-carpeting work.
According to the airport officials, the Indian Air Force (IAF), which controls the runway, has appointed a contractor for re-carpeting of the runway. As the work is carried out only at nights, no flights are scheduled during this time. The authorities stated that the work is expected to continue beyond the deadline due to various reasons, including the Covid situation.
“Only the IAF can tell the status of the project. Our effort is to complete it in a time-bound banner, but situations do arise because of the Covid pandemic. I feel that the work will be completed before the scheduled time,” said Pune airport director Santosh Doke.
A complete closure of the runway is expected for 15 days in October-November. Earlier, it was planned for April-May, but was postponed for transporting Covishield vaccine consignments, officials said.
At least 4,431 passengers arrived and 4,274 passengers departed from Pune airport on 40 flights operated on August 9. The Pune airport is chiefly a defence air base belonging to the IAF and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) utilised it as a civil airport. Before the runway re-carpeting work had started, the airport used to have continuous scheduled flights, except between 6am and 8:30am on weekdays to allow for Sukhoi fighter aircraft to carry out sorties.
