Pune airport recarpeting causes chaos

The recarpeting of the Pune airport runway has thrown flight schedules haywire and the business community is having to bear the brunt of the chaos. To make matters worse, the situation is expected to continue till May next year.

Pune, a city fast emerging as an IT and automobile hub, sees heavy air traffic to New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad every day.

The airport recarpeting work which commenced last Saturday, has restricted take-off and landing operations to only eight hours, between 10.30 am and 6.30 pm. Several flights coming into Pune from Delhi and Bangalore have been cancelled

Air travellers from the city, especially the business community, are upset as early morning flights have also been cancelled. This makes it difficult to fly out in the morning and return to the city by nightfall. "It is impossible to finish business within a short span of two-three hours as I usually do," said a frequent flier to the capital.

The situation has also forced businessmen to look for alternatives. Neilsoft Director Surendra Agarwal, told Business Standard that his company has started using video conferencing extensively to avoid travelling. "If we have to travel abroad, we prefer Mumbai airport. We have cut down on the frequency of domestic trips and have opted for video conferencing," Agarwal said.

The runway, which is around 16 years old, is very badly in need of repairs and Indian Air Force, which manages the airport, is investing around Rs 50 crore on the re-carpetting and other renovation work.

From September 15 onwards, the number of daily flights operating from Pune Airport has dropped to 30 from the earlier 38.

Airport director Deepak Shastri, is however optimistic. "Most of the flights are operating on schedule. There are cancellations and re-scheduling due to rains and other minor problems. But runway re-carpeting was a must and the situation will improve once the project is completed," Shastri said. He added that the runway would be ready in six months.