Pune airport set to resume flight operations from October 30

At least 56 flights will be operational from Pune airport on Saturday. The first flight is scheduled for Delhi at 9:05 am

PUNE With the festive season commencing from the weekend huge rush of people is expected at Pune airport in Lohegaon as it resumes flight operation from 8am-8pm from Saturday. However, the airport will continue to remain shut for night operation till November 30.

Huge rush of people is expected at Pune airport in Lohegaon as it resumes flight operation from 8am-8pm from Saturday. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The Pune airport was closed between October 16-29 as the Indian Air Force (IAF) had undertaken runway resurfacing work.

At least 56 flights will be operational from Pune airport from Saturday. The first flight is scheduled for Delhi at 9:05 am.

Pune airport official handle tweeted, “Flight operations will resume at #PuneAirport w.e.f. 30-Oct-2021. Please note that flights will operate from 08:00am to 08:00 pm from 30-Oct-21 to 30-Nov-21. In view of expected rush due to the festive season, pls reach the Airport 2-3 hours before departure.” (sic)

“The current timings of airport operation will be 8am to 8pm and it will continue till November 30 and from December 1 – 24hrs service at the airport will start,” said Santosh Dhoke, director, Lohegaon airport.

The travelling agents in the city have also noticed a surge in the inquiries of the tickets. The inquiries are expected to increase more after 15 days.

“Generally, many flights reshuffle their itinerary during the winter season. So many people are getting different itineraries and many flights are rescheduled. No doubt there is a demand as always, but in one week or 15 days the picture will be clearer, ” said Ashwin Kardekar, director of My Travelogue Holidays Pvt Ltd.

With travelling bans relaxed in the majority of states, people have started planning trips and airport reopening is a big relief for people.

“Domestic traffic will go up as people are willing to go outstation. While many people are still not making any international travel plans,” added Kardekar.

Right now, only domestic flights are operational from the Pune airport. After 24 hours of operation starts, many are expecting airport authorities to start flights for Dubai which were put on halt after the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020.

“We are still not receiving booking or queries like pre-Covid days and we expect if the third wave does not hit then we can expect more people willing for vacations till the coming summer season,” said Mihir Mulay, director of Mid Earth Outdoors.

Many travellers who plan a one-day business trip will face difficulty as they prefer early morning flights and come back by evening flight.

“I have three visits to Chennai every week and the morning 5am flight is what I prefer. I will have to rework my schedule to adjust with new timings as going to Mumbai is not suitable,” said Mayur Patel, a resident from Karve nagar.

New facilities at airport terminal

The airport authorities have made some infrastructure changes to the airport which will help better crowd management at the airport.

“In 15 days, we have done many improvements in the terminal buildings. Tiles have been replaced by granite. The road from cate No. 1 to airport entry has been widened which will help to decongest the traffic. There were five X-Ray machines at the security checks and one more has been increased and the area has been also widened at the security check so people consume less time for security checking,” added Dhoke.

“Flights at the airport will increase in coming days as the IAF has permitted to increase the slots,” added Dhoke.

Before shutting down for repair works –the daily footfall at the airport was touching 13,000 to 14,000 per day with flight movement of 60 flights per day.

After the year 2008, it was the second time the airport was closed for 14 days for runway repair works.