Stuck in traffic, many Punekars miss flights
The commute to and from Pune airport has long been a pain point for passengers because of congested and narrow roads, bottlenecks, absence of speedways, inadequate public transportation, expensive and time-consuming travel, uncertainty of duration especially during peak hours
Traffic congestion in Pune city has increased to such an extent that passengers travelling to and from Pune airport are also impacted by it. Several flyers have missed their flights as they were stuck in traffic and reached the Lohegaon Pune airport late. A day ago, a flyer wasn’t allowed to board the flight as the check-in counter had been closed by the respective airline.
Dev Negi, a flyer, recounted, “My friend had a flight on January 23 from Pune to Delhi at 2.50 pm. We were an hour late due to traffic but still reached the airport at 1.50 pm. However, the Indigo people clearly told us that the counter is closed and that we cannot board the flight. I want to ask Indigo why we were not allowed to board the flight despite there being an hour left for take-off. I did not like what Indigo did. I will never travel by Indigo now and neither will I ask any of my friends to travel by Indigo.”
Responding to Negi’s complaint on social media and the official ‘X’ handle of Indigo Airlines, the airline stated, “We understand your concern. Please share the booking details (PNR) via DM so we may check and assist you further.”
Many others have suffered like Negi as passengers from across Pune- city and district come to Pune to board flights and given the increasing number of vehicles and traffic jams at peak hours, they end up missing their flights.
Vipul Alekar, another flyer, said, “I stay in Hadapsar and last month, I had a flight from Pune to Delhi for a family function late in the evening. As the flight was scheduled to depart at 10 pm from Pune, I began my journey from home to the airport at around 7 pm. However, I was so badly stuck in traffic that I got delayed and missed the flight and could not attend the function as other immediate flights were expensive.”
Kushal Das, another frequent flyer staying at Vadgaon Budruk, said, “The traffic congestion and jams occurring daily in Pune city are a serious concern for us. One of our relatives who had come for a year-end holiday in Pune missed their flight from Pune to Kolkata in the first week of January when they were planning to return. We had booked an Ola cab for them to travel from Vadgaon Budruk to Lohegaon Pune airport but it was stuck in heavy traffic at Sinhagad Road and they missed the flight.”
Aviation expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said, “The commute to and from Pune airport has long been a pain point for passengers because of congested and narrow roads, bottlenecks, absence of speedways, inadequate public transportation, expensive and time-consuming travel, uncertainty of duration especially during peak hours etc. Some passengers have taken more time to reach the airport from their homes in different parts of the city like Kothrud, Hinjewadi, Chinchwad and Hadapsar (and vice-versa) than the actual flight time. This is more so during peak hours. The passenger experience is also affected by recurring issues related to public transportation, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) bus bay for accessing service, cab and auto-rickshaw airport pickups, accessing Aero Mall, and absence of seamless metro connectivity. Speedy, economical and seamless airport connectivity can be achieved only if metro connectivity – which has strangely been terminated around 2 to 2.5 km from the airport – is extended up to the airport.”
“Pune airport has for a long time been one of India’s top 10 airports in terms of passenger traffic. Being aware of the city’s future air traffic growth potential, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should have thought of teaming up with local elected representatives, municipal and state government authorities to create rapid transport infrastructure for speedy and economical commute to the airport from various parts of the city. For this very purpose, I have been following up with the ministry of civil aviation, state government and local MPs since the past 10 years to include Pune’s guardian minister as a special invitee in the Airport Advisory Committee where he will prove extremely beneficial in speedily creating such road and allied infra, expediting permissions etc.,” Vandekar said.
