Flight schedulesat Pune won't change: AAI

Pune: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has called a meeting with representatives of the airline operators and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Pune airport on Friday to work out modalities for reducing passenger discomfort in the event of unscheduled cancellations.
The move comes in the wake of Wednesday evening’s chaos at the airport that resulted from the late arrival of flights, which threw the eight-hour tight schedule for civilian flights (10.30 am and 6.30 pm), out of control.
The Pune airport is part of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Lohegaon air base and the ATC is manned by the IAF, which has stringent norms and controls for movement of flights. As of now, it is handling 29 civilian flights each day, which means 58 movements (take-offs and landings) within eight hours. This includes 15 minute turnaround time for disembarkment and boarding of flight by passengers.
On Wednesday, three flights had to be cancelled and one flight was diverted as nearly 450 passengers were left stranded. The airline operators faced a tough time dealing with the logistics like arranging transport and overnight stay for passengers.
18/10/07 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007