The Lohegaon international airport in Pune, which operates from an Indian Air Force base, has become one of the fastest growing civil airports in the western region by the number of passengers with a growth rate of 29 per cent this year. According to airport officials, the Pune airport had previously seen a growth rate of only 20.6 per cent.
With a total of 180 flight operations, the latest addition to be in the schedule of airlines operating from the airport in Pune is the Jet airways Pune to Singapore direct flight commencing from December 1.
A growth rate of 29 per cent has managed to attract almost all the airlines requesting the airport authorities for slots of operation.
The airport authority of India (AAI), Pune, through its official twitter handle (@aaipunairport) tweeted, “Pune is getting new direct international flight from December 1 to Singapore by Jet airways.”
At present, four international flights, two to Dubai (Air India and SpiceJet), one to Abu Dhabi (Jet airways) and one to Frankfurt (Lufthansa) operate from the Pune airport.
While Jet airways have announced a direct flight to Singapore, Indigo Airlines as well is likely to start a direct flight from Pune to Male in Maldives (the date for which has not been decided), said an airport official, who is in the operations department of Lohegaon airport.
Speaking about new direct flight to Singapore, the official quoted above said, “The passenger traffic from the Lohegaon international airport in Pune is growing exponentially. It is the business opportunities owing to the high passenger occupancy from the airport in Pune which has led to Jet airways and many such different airlines requesting slots for operating on different routes.”
{{/usCountry}}Speaking about new direct flight to Singapore, the official quoted above said, “The passenger traffic from the Lohegaon international airport in Pune is growing exponentially. It is the business opportunities owing to the high passenger occupancy from the airport in Pune which has led to Jet airways and many such different airlines requesting slots for operating on different routes.”
{{/usCountry}}However, availability of slots is a different matter of concern for the airport authorities as the only slot available is between 1.30 am to 4.30 am in the night, said another airport official.
He added, “Allotting slots to airlines at the Pune airport is a very complex process as besides the process of airport authorities accepting the proposals, the clearance has to be sought from the Indian Air force as well. Also, we have to ensure many aspects such as city side air traffic, the duration for which the flight would be in the premises of the airport, among other things.”