Flight movement expected to touch 200 during summer schedule

Pune: The Pune International Airport, which currently has 180 flights per day (90 arrivals and departures each), is expected to reach 200 flights during the summer schedule, which will commence in late March or early April.

“The Pune airport currently has around 180 daily flight movements. Flight numbers are expected to exceed 200 during the summer schedule. We will know whether Pune will get connectivity to any new domestic centres once the summer schedule is announced,” said Santosh Dhoke, director of Pune International Airport, on Wednesday.

The Civil Aviation ministry added 14 new slots to Pune airport’s winter schedule.

“In order to begin connectivity at a new destination, slots must be available at both airports. In the case of Pune airport, many destinations had no available slots,” said another official from the airport authority, who requested anonymity.

Pune International Airport currently connects approximately 35 domestic destinations and two international destinations, Dubai and Singapore.

“To add to the two current slots, international airline slots are available at Pune airport,” Dhoke added.

Recently the Bangkok flights were put on hold by SpiceJet due to a significant drop in passengers.

“Pune is responding positively to the Dubai flight. Because of the looming Covid scare in Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong, many airlines are not planning to launch flights to these destinations from Pune International Airport,” added the official.

According to Sachin Kulkarni, a frequent flyer from Sadashiv Peth, “We noticed long lines at security checkpoints during the Winter schedule in December due to holidays. With summer vacation rapidly approaching, airport authorities must ensure that heavy traffic at the airport is handled efficiently.”

There were 184 flights scheduled from Pune International Airport on Wednesday (92 arrivals and 92 departures). The passenger gate footfall was around 29,000. Prior to the pandemic, daily passenger traffic averaged around 31,000 people.

“On the weekend more flights are scheduled from Pune International airport. The number of passengers is also expected to increase in the summer schedule as many flyers plan summer vacations,” Dhoke added.