Pune: The Lohegaon airport is likely to witness a marginal rise in the number of passengers flying in and out of the city by the end of this fiscal as compared to last year.
"The airport handled over 33.2 lakh passengers during 2011-12 and the projected passenger traffic by the end of 2012-13 is over 33.49 lakh," airport director P S R K Sudhakar told TOI.
This is a far cry from the kind of air passenger traffic growth that the airport reported during the last few years. The numbers also signal the fact that the airport has touched a near saturation point vis-a-vis capacity to handle air passengers on an annual basis.
The muted growth is also being attributed to Kingfisher Airlines shutting down flights since October last year owing to its financial crisis and the eventual suspension of its licence by the civil aviation regulator. The Vijay Mallya-led airline, which was operating at least nine flights to destinations across the country, was one of the main carriers operating from the city.
25/03/13 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India
