Pune Airport

Pune International Airport

Pune International Airport (पुणे आंतरराष्ट्रीय विमानतळ, लोहगाव) is located approximately north-east of Pune in the state of Maharashtra, India. The airport, operated by the Airports Authority of India, shares its runway with Lohegaon Air Base. Air India has begun operating direct flights from Pune to Dubai, as also Indian Airlines with flights to Singapore thus giving it international status. Pune Airport also serves Indian Airlines, Jet Lite and Jet Airways, that run domestic flights connecting Pune to major Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, as well as budget carriers like SpiceJet and Deccan.

Overview

As the Pune airport is in fact an Air Force Base operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), there is at times frequent friction between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the IAF over schedules of flights or landing of aircraft at night. However there is currently a basic working relationship between the two concerned parties and both have agreed to night landings of civilian flights being allowed for the time being, though that is not a long term solution.

Proposal for new Pune International Airport

A brand new greenfield Pune International Airport for the Pune metropolitan region has been on the horizon for a long time and Government of Maharashtra has entrusted the responsibility to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for executing the Pune International Airport project. Probable sites for this project had earlier included areas around Talegaon Dabhade and Saswad near Pune. The current area under consideration is the area between Chakan and Rajgurunagar, namely around the villages of Chandus and Shiroli both situated at a distance of from Pune along the Pune - Nashik National highway, National Highway 50. MIDC is conducting surveys and completing other formalities to get the required permissions to start executing the project. The new Pune International Airport would act as a gateway of Pune and western Maharashtra to the rest of the world, and agricultural and floricultural exports are expected to get a faster movement to its international markets on the completion of this project.

This airport will spread over 24,28 hectares (6,000 acres), so it will be the largest airport in India after completion. This airport will have two runways. After constuction of the new airport Pune will get more international flights.

Renovation

Because of the Commonwealth Youth Games Pune International Airport is being renovated. AAI is making two new international terminals at Pune International Airport. At present Pune airport terminal can handle only 550 people at a time, but after renovation it will be able to handle over 1200 people at a time. The new terminal will contain international standards. These terminals will have facilities like aerobridges, ultramodern checking systems, lesar screening etc.

Runway at Pune International Airport is also under renovation. Length of the runway is going to be extended to 3,250 metres from current lenght 2,600 metres.

After renovation work's complition Pune will be able operate larger aircrafts like Boeing 747 or Airbus 380. And Pune will have connected to more international destinations like Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sharjah, Muscat, London, Brussels etc.

Airlines and destinations

Destinations within India include the four metros and Ahmedabad. Domestic operators are planning to start flights to Aurangabad. Some other domestic destinations are Kochi, Nagpur, Indore and Guwahati etc.

International destinations currently include Dubai. Lufthansa serves Frankfurt, using an Airbus A319 Long Range operated by Privatair. The seating arrangement of this flight is an all business class configuration, thus making Pune the first destination in the entire Southeast Asia region to have an all business class configuration on flights to/from Frankfurt.

Domestic

Air India

operated by Indian Airlines (Delhi, Goa)

IndiGo Airlines (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Nagpur)
Jet Airways (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur)

operated by Jet Lite (Delhi, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bangalore)

Kingfisher Airlines (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Indore)

operated by Air Deccan (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Raipur)

SpiceJet (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Nagpur)

International

Air India

operated by Indian Airlines (Dubai)

Lufthansa

operated by PrivatAir (Frankfurt)

Future destinations

If AIF allows, Pune will operate several international flights in the future. Most of airlines which operates from India wants to start more flights from Pune. For example Jet Airways and Air India have expressed their will to start flights from Pune to Brussels, Singapore and Dubai. Recently Emirates Airlines expressed their desire to fly from Pune to Dubai, Sharjah and Muscat respectivly. Besides this Thai Airways International desires to fly from Pune to Bangkok and All Nippon Airways wants to fly from Pune to Tokyo non-stop, and British Airways has a strong desire to fly from Pune to London non-stop respectivly.

Some domestic airlines are also ready to fly from Pune to more domestic destinations like Coimbatore, Aurangabad, Kochi, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow etc.

International

Air India (Singapore)
Jet Airways (Dubai, Brussels)
Emirates Airlines (Dubai, Sharjah, Muscat)
Thai Airways International (Bangkok - Suwrnabhumi)
British Airways (London - Heathrow)
Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
All Nippon Airways (Tokyo)

Transport to and from airport

There are pre-paid taxicab services to and from airport along with pre-paid auto rickshaws. There is a coach service to various key locations in Pune and private car rental services are also available. There is proposal for a metrorail in Pune, then the airport will connect by metro.