Big Plans For Pune Airport, More International Connectivity Soon: Civil Aviation Minister Scindia
Sumit Singh
Pune, 2nd September 2022: Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia today in his interaction at the Maratha Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) Pune not only shared insights into the future of the aviation sector and its impact on the industry but also gave insights into how concerns of Pune are set to be resolved in the coming years.
Punekars and MCCIA had highlighted three important points that needed intervention by the Ministry of Civil Aviation viz.
1) Increase in daily slots for Pune
2) International Connectivity
3) Upgrades to the existing airport at Lohegaon
The minister shared several positive updates:
1) Slots – MCCIA and others had requested more Aviation Slots per day. Pune airport is a civil enclave operated by the Airports Authority of India on the western side of Lohegaon Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force (IAF). As promised and with the support of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Pune’s Monday to Saturday slots have been increased from 102 to 116, and Sunday slots have been increased from 131 to 145 daily.
2) Connectivity – Minister Scindia has assured and undertaken the responsibility to increase Pune’s international air connectivity, from current only Dubai to now Singapore (airvistara’s approval is in process), and possibly to Doha and Bangkok in the very near future.
Pune has been declared point-of-call for Germany, ie. flights from Germany can directly come to Pune. An open sky agreement with US and UK means flights from both US and UK can now directly fly to Pune.
Scindia is positive of these routes opening up in the next few years.
3) Airport upgrade – Minister Scindia has committed that the new terminal building of the current airport will be ready by August 2023, and take handling capacity from 7.7 million to 17 million per annum. The multi-level car parking will open in October 2022.
4) Cargo – International Cargo Terminal will be ready by December 2024. Before this, an interim integrated Cargo terminal will be ready by March 2023, which will take Cargo handling capacity from 25,000 Metric tonnes to 43,000 metric tonnes (both domestic and international )
The runway expansion will also be expedited and this was discussed in detail during the meeting.
“I on behalf of Punekars and MCCIA thank Minister Scindia for proactively taking up our concerns and committing solutions with timelines. His love for Pune is evident from his use of Marathi and his passion for the cause of our city…that he refers to as my city. I thank minister Chandrakant Patil and MP Girish Bapat for their guidance and support regards”, tweeted Sudhir Mehta, president, MCCIA.
