Pune: Airline companies have made changes to their flight schedules as the operations at the Lohegaon Pune Airport will remain closed during night hours 8pm to 8am for one year. At present, 14 flights were operating during the night hours which will now be rescheduled during the day time from Monday (October 26). The details of flights rescheduling are being shared with passengers through mobile messages and email by the respective airline companies. The industry sector has however expressed their displeasure over these restrictions.
The Lohegaon Pune Airport is a Defence Airport. The Indian Air Force will be carrying out repair and maintenance work at the runway of Lohegaon Airport. This work will be carried out for the next one year and hence the civilian air traffic operations have been restricted during the night hours.
Kuldeep Singh, Airport Director said, "The Lohegaon airport will open every day at 5am for passengers. The airport will close down after the last passenger exits from the premises after the last flight landing. The flights have been rescheduled in such a way that the night restrictions at Pune airport won't affect the overall air traffic."
The Lohegaon airport has 34 flight operations at present. Every day around 8 to 9 thousand passengers are arriving and departing from the airport. During the night hours, 14 flights were being operated. These 14 flights will now be accommodated during the day time. The details of flights rescheduling are being shared with passengers through mobile messages and email by the respective airline companies.
Air Marshal Bhushan Gokhale (Retd) who is member of the advisory committee of the airport said, "The airport administration is taking efforts to complete the runway repair and maintenance work at the earliest. These restrictions have once again highlighted the need for a new international airport for Pune city."
Nilesh Bhansali, Director of Travel Agents Association of Pune said, "Passengers are suffering due to these sudden changes as their money is stuck due to the cancelled flights. The airport needs to be open for more hours instead of just 12 hours from 8am to 8pm."
Sanjay Dhere, businessman said, "We have to now look for connecting flights from Pune to Delhi, Bengaluru or Kolkata. It is a sad state of affairs as a metro city like Pune does not have any alternate arrangement."
