Pune: Though Pune has emerged as a hub of education, IT and automobile industry, its wings clipped, quite literally. Unlike other developing cities, Pune’s air connectivity is restricted.
In terms of development, Pune ranks seventh with close competition from Bangalore and Hyderabad. However, Bangalore and Hyderabad score over Pune in terms of aerial connectivity as both the cities have developed new airports of international standard.
In Pune, the civil airport still has to share the air strip with the Indian Air Force (IAF) as it is situated on the IAF base in Lohegaon. Due to the limited operational hours, the Pune airport can operate only around 40 flights in a day. The city is connected with only two international destinations through air - Dubai and Frankfurt.
17/01/13 Anurag Bende/Daily News & Analysis
