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‘Winter schedule’ for Pune airport in 15 days, ‘good time’ for airlines, travellers
With the festive season starting with Ganpati and continuing through Navratri, Diwali, Christmas and New Year, and with the ‘winter schedule’ of commercial flights expected in the next 15 days, heavy travel is expected to take place from Pune airport to various destinations across the country as well as overseas
With the festive season starting with Ganpati and continuing through Navratri, Diwali, Christmas and New Year, and with the ‘winter schedule’ of commercial flights expected in the next 15 days, heavy travel is expected to take place from Pune airport to various destinations across the country as well as overseas.
It is that time of year when people plan for major festivals, holidays and year-end celebrations, booking their tickets well in advance for the same. Besides with nearly no restrictions on travel this year, the aviation industry is expected to witness a major boost in the coming winter schedule and passengers too are expected to benefit from the healthy competition. The winter schedule normally starts from October every year and continues till March of the next year. All airline companies operating from Pune airport have applied for new slot allocations and permission from the headquarters and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Santosh Doke, Pune airport director, said, “For flight operations as we all know, the schedule changes twice every year namely, the summer schedule and the winter schedule. Currently, the summer schedule is underway and soon, the winter schedule flight operations will start. The airlines operating from Pune airport have started the process, looking at their requirements for the operation of flights and looking at the constraints by the Indian Air Force (IAF), and have applied to corporate headquarters for slot allocation and the DGCA for new winter schedule slots. It is under due consideration and within the next 15 days, we will get detailed information about the winter schedule.”
“In this winter schedule, the flying timings of the IAF are changed and accordingly, slots are given to commercial public flights. As it is the festival season, we are hoping to have an increase in flight operations and people travelling from Pune airport to various locations across the country,” Doke said.
About the overall ‘winter schedule’ and its impact this year on the aviation industry, Dhairyashil Vandekar, aviation expert and analyst, said, “The winter schedule is a time of maximum travel for the public as there are a lot of festivals, school holidays, corporate events and conferences planned for the year-end. So, airline ticket booking for this period is done well in advance and for airline companies, it is their peak period for revenue generation. There is a boost to tourism and for both domestic and international flights, the winter schedule is the best period to gain business. And once this huge travelling happens, there is an automatic impact on the hospitality industry of cities.”
