Frequency of intl flights from Pune reduced

Pune: It's almost two years since international flight services from the city's Lohegaon airport were started amid much fanfare on December 12, 2005, to mark the birthday of Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
However, instead of making progress, things are going backward on the international flights front with only one of the two services remaining in operation. That too on a reduced frequency.
During the 2005 launch, Air India (AI) started to operate on the Pune-Dubai direct route while the Indian started with the Pune-Hyderabad-Singapore flight service.
Representatives of prominent airline operators here told TOI that the situation could have been much better than the initial launch, had the ongoing runway repairs (started on September 15) were undertaken before the start of international flight operations.
The availability of runway at Lohegaon was reduced to 6,500 ft from 8,300 ft, as a result of the repair work, which is being implemented in stretches and is expected to complete in May 2008. This compelled the AI to hand over the Pune-Dubai service to Indian with effect from September 1.
Beginning Monday, the AI suspended its Singapore-Hyderabad-Pune flight due to 'operational reasons'. This service was being operated by Indian prior to the merger. The Pune-Hyderabad-Singapore flight was already suspended from September 15 owing to the runway repairs.
All this leaves only one flight — the Pune-Dubai service — in operation on four days a week instead of daily flight frequency.
11/12/07 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2007, Foreign Dec 2007