Lohegaon runway revamp to hit intl flights

Pune: The runway re-carpeting at Lohegaon airport, scheduled to begin on September 1, is likely to affect international flight operations.
Air India and Indian currently operate to Dubai (thrice a week) and Singapore (twice a week), respectively. While Air India takes off directly to Dubai, Indian’s Pune-Singapore flight operates via Hyderabad.
An official of Air India said, “With restrictions imposed on both ends of the 8,300-ft runway, our technical committee will decide if it will be feasible for an aircraft like the 737/800 to land and take off without compromising on security.”
The official said that it won’t make any business sense to fly to Dubai with even half the capacity. Another possibility is that the aircraft may fly to Dubai via some other Indian city like Mumbai or Bangalore.
An official of Indian said its international schedule out of Pune could be affected.
The official said that Pune-Singapore was the only sector where maximum adjustment would have to be made.
30/06/07 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jul 2007, Foreign Jul 2007