The Pune airport will remain shut for 14 days from October 16-30 as the AirForce has decided to undertake runway resurfacing work. This means no flight will be able to take off or land at the airport during this period. The airlines will have to cancel all scheduled operations, officials at the airport said.
“We have received a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) from the Air Force that the runway will remain closed from October 15, 8pm to October 30, 8 am for works,” said an
AAI official.
The Indian Air Force had earlier announced that it will be undertaking the runway resurfacing work between April 26 and May 9. The airport officials were later
conveyed by the Air Force that the work had been postponed.
Pune Airport is a civil enclave operating from the IAF station of Lohegaon, the primary function of which is to train IAF pilots by undertaking sortie operations.
Although Pune is in the process of developing its own international airport in Purandar, issues pertaining to land acquisition have delayed the commencement of
work.
The closure will come as a big jolt to airline traffic which was badly affected due to interstate travel restrictions during and immediately after the second wave of Covid-19 infections and was slowly returning to normal. The daily flight movements which had dipped to 20-25 a day in March-May 2021, had slowly hurtled backto 100 a day in the first week of October.
