Pune's Lohegaon Airport Sees 50% Drop in International Flights

The Pune airport has seen at least 50 per cent drop in international flights in January 2020, as compared to January 2019, according to analysis data from Airports Authority of India (AAI).

As per the data, only 108 international flights operated in January 2020 as compared to 258 in January 2019.

Experts say one of the reasons could be attributed to the limitations at Pune airport which is primarily a defence airport and call to expedite the work for Purandar airport.

As per the data, this January saw 150 less international flights as compared to January 2019, along with the decrease in the number of flights, the number of passengers who took international flights from Pune also dropped. In January 2020, at least 15,420 passengers took international flight from Pune airport while this number stood at 23,444 in January 2019. Due to the drastic fall in the number of international flights and passengers, the overall number of passengers at Pune airport has also gone down. While in January 2020, 7.38 lakh passengers boarded flights at Lohegaon airport in January 2019 this number stood at 7.82 lakh passengers.

Kuldeep Singh, director, Lohegaon airport, said, “The operational constraints upon the Indian Air Force (IAF) prevent them for allocating more slots as the continuous training and operational readiness of the IAF pilots is important for the national defence of the country.”

“The only hope to cut down the demand for Pune airport is to expedite the process of building the Purandar airport,” said Singh.

Dhairyashil Vandekar, an aviation expert and analyst, said, “After Lufthansa discontinued their services to Frankfurt and after the shutdown of Jet Airways, almost 60 per cent of Pune’s international flights’ operations was cut down. Currently, only Spice Jet and Air India run international flights from Pune airport.”

“The city needs a full-fledged 24*7 civil airport as the national security cannot be compromised at any cost and so to demand, more slots form the Air Force is not fair,” added Vandekar.

“The expansion of Pune airport is not possible beyond a point due to the heavy urbanisation around the airport. So to invest more money in the development of Pune airport would not help,” he said.

Domestic flights uptick

There has been a slight rise in the number of domestic flights, but an inversely proportional growth in the number of domestic travellers as per the data from AAI. The number of domestic flights in January were 5,008 and in 2019 it was 4,850, but the number of domestic passengers in 2019 stood at 7.59 lakh while in January 2020 this stood at 7.22 lakh.

Widening difference between demand and availability of runway

The gaping difference in demand and availability of the runway for commercial activities is widening every season. As per data from the Pune airport, the total number of slots available per week is 1,193 while in the ongoing winter schedule all the airlines together are using 1120 slots per week. For the forthcoming summer schedule here are total requests of 1,343 slots per week all the airlines combined.

Need for full-fledged civil airport: Experts

Difference in demand and supply

1,193 total slots available per week

1,120 slots per week used by all airlines combined in the ongoing winter schedule

1,343 slots per week used by all airlines combined for the forthcoming summer schedule

International flights operated

Jan 2020: 108

Jan 2019: 258

Jan 2018: 188

Passengers availing services of international flights

Jan 2020: 15,420

Jan 2019: 23,444

Jan 2018: 21,420

Domestic flights operated

Jan 2020: 5,008

Jan 2019: 4,850

Jan 2018: 4,742

Passengers availing services of domestic flights

Jan 2020: 7,22,996

Jan 2019: 7,59,074

Jan 2018: 7,06,234

Total passengers (domestic + international)

Jan 2020; 7,38,416

Jan 2019: 7,82,518

Jan 2018: 7,27,654

“The operational constraints upon the Indian Air force prevents them from allocating more slots as the continuous training and operational readiness of the IAF pilots is important for the national defence of the country. The only hope to cut down the demand for Pune airport is to expedite the process of building the Purandar airport.”

-Kuldeep Singh, director of Lohegaon airport

“Due to the restrictions on the Pune airport, the city needs a full-fledged 24*7 civil airport. National security cannot be compromised at any cost and so to demand more slots form the Air Force is not fair. The expansion of Pune airport is not possible beyond a point due to the heavy urbanisation around the airport.”

-Dhairyashil Vandekar, aviation expert and analyst

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