60 flights daily despite repairs

PUNE: The Pune airport authorities have worked out a plan to accommodate as many as 30 take-offs and an equal number of landings daily within the restricted flying hours imposed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) from September 15 when the runway recarpeting work begins.
While Captain Deepak Shastri, the Pune airport director, would only say that the plan has been submitted to the higher authorities, this development assumes significance in the wake of apprehension that the restricted flying hours would lead to suspension of many flights in and out of the Pune airport.
The airport will remain open for civilian flights from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm from September 15.
We’ve tried to accommodate the maximum number of flights within the shortest possible flying hours made available to us, Shastri said, adding that they were still awaiting an endorsement of the plan.
The Pune airport currently operates about 70 flights (take-offs and landings daily).
When contacted, deputy general manager at the airport, J.P. Mathur, confirmed that the revised plan submitted by the Pune airport authorities has tried to accommodate around 60 flights daily.
An announcement will be made once we get the confirmation from the headquarters, an airport official said, adding that the ministries of civil aviation and defence are also involved and will have to approve of the plan.
The operation of only about five flights will remain suspended during the recarpeting of the runway, while on most other routes, the timings have been rescheduled or merged, the official said, adding that the plan was prepared after consultation with all airlines and others concerned.
Airlines who have finalised their flying schedules, however, said the airport authorities’ plan to accommodate 60 flights daily will lead to utter chaos. The ground time between flights has been reduced from 40 minutes to about 25-30 minutes now, said an airlines official. The situation will be such that passengers of four different flights will be simultaneously trying to do their luggage and security checks, he pointed out.
It is necessary to increase the number of luggage scanners and passenger exit points at the airport, the official said.
The runway recarpeting has been necessitated due to the substantial increase in the number of civil aircraft. The last time the runway was recarpeted was in the late 1980s.
While temporary repairs have been carried out for some time now, officials said the continued wear and tear has resulted in a few cracks on the runway. The heavy civil aircraft exert tremendous reverse thrust while landing, thereby reducing the life of the runway.
The IAF, which controls the operations at Pune airport, has already decided to fly out its fighter jets, including the front-runner Sukhoi-30 MkIs, out of the Pune air base during the runway repairs.