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Pune’s Lohegaon airport completely shut from October 16-29
The Lohegaon international airport in Pune will be shut from October 16-29 to allow for the runway to be re-carpeted, officials from the Airports Authority of India said on Tuesday
PUNE The Lohegaon international airport in Pune will be completely shut from October 16-29 to allow for the runway to be re-carpeted, officials from the Airports Authority of India said on Tuesday. Currently, the airport is only operating during the day.
“I have been informed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) that airport will remain closed from October 16 through to October 29,” said Santosh Dhoke, director, Lohegaon airport. Flight operations will resume at 8am on October 30, Dhoke added.
“After the complete shut-down for 14 days, the airport is expected to operate for 24 hours from then on. Flights are expected to increase once the airport reopens and since it will be Diwali time, it is expected air traffic will increase,” said an airport official asking not to be named.
The re-carpeting is being done by the Indian Air Force (IAF) which controls the 2,530-metre runway and air-traffic control. Currently, passenger flights are operating from 8am to 8pm, ever since the work on the runway began last year.
Currently, 55 flights are operating and daily footfall crossed the 10,000 mark recently, AAI officials said.
Before first Covid wave, 170 flights used the city’s airport. The resurfacing of the runway began in October 2020.
Some flyers are in a fix.
“I had a flight to Goa scheduled on October 28, now I am applying for cancellation. I hope service at Pune airport will improve after the runway work is completed,” said Deepti Surve, an IT professional.
Twitter was abuzz with flyers venting their frustration.
Sanjay Koul tweeted: “Just imagine this decision has been taken just 10 days in advance to spoil Diwali vacation of middle class. Why is Diwali time specifically chosen for this? And why notice just 10 days in advance?”
Sujeet Sahu tweeted: “Not good especially during the festive season when lot of people must have booked their tickets. Now cancellation is gonna be a big confusion. Request to postopone this until Dussera and Diwali is over.”
