Passenger traffic growth rate dips at Pune

Pune: The recent runway repair works carried out at the Lohegaon airport has had a negative impact on the growth of passengers in 2007-2008.
Statistics released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Pune, showed that 15.73 lakh passengers used the Pune airport in 2007-08, as against 15.68 lakh the preceding year (a negligible 0.30 per cent growth).
The statistic also holds significance since passenger growth during 2005-06 was a whopping 57.38 per cent.
Pune airport director G. Chandramouli justifies, "The growth potential for air traffic from the city remains upbeat.
What led to a fall this year was the nine-month restricted civilian flights schedule, between September 15, 2007 and May 15, 2008, to facilitate runway resurfacing and repair works." The airport was, in fact, shut down for a fortnight i.e. February 12 to 26 to enable repairs of a critical patch. Notably, the civil enclave is a part of the IAF fighter base at Lohegaon.
As a result, AAI, Pune's annual revenue too has remained static at Rs 30 crore. The AAI's prime source of earning is from non-traffic services like passenger facilitation, car park, entry tickets, stalls, restaurants and shops at the main terminal building and advertising boards. The annual air cargo movement too has remained unchanged at 13,000 metric ton (MT) for 2007-08. This was same as registered in 2006-07 whereas in 2005-06 the airport had handled 8,000 MT of cargo movement.
29/09/08 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Sep 2008