Pune: Suspension of flight operations from 8pm to 8am at the Pune airport may continue for a longer period after October, sources at the facility said. The runway re-carpeting work is currently on at the airport.
“The 12-hour operation at the airport may end in October or may get slightly extended. It all depends on how the contractor of the Indian Air Force (IAF) completes the main runway resurfacing. An early completion of the project is not expected due to the problems caused by the pandemic,” an airport official told TOI.
Work on the lone runway of the airport started in October last year and the runway is shut from 8pm to 8am. The curtailed operation hours were to remain in force until October this year. However, the total closure of the runway, scheduled for 15 days during April end to early May, was postponed for allowing transport of Covishield vaccine from the airport.
“The total closure of the runway is expected right after the monsoon. We might be looking at October or November. However, it is the IAF which will decide. There could be more changes, but we haven’t been informed about any fresh dates relating to runway closure till now,” the official added.
The Pune airport is primarily a defence airbase belonging to the IAF and the Airport Authority of India uses it as a civil enclave. Before the runway re-carpeting started, the airport used to have continuous flights, except between 6am and 8:30am on weekdays to allow for Sukhoi aircraft sorties.
10/08/21 Joy Sengupta/Times of India
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