For an Independent Airport for Pune region, there is no door that I along with Shri Mukesh Malhotra, and many other Past Presidents of the Chamber, did not knock in last over 2 decades! Even Chandigarh Airport, which was conceived almost 15 years after our demand, has been in operation for the last 6 years (since 15th September, 2015). They had political will which unfortunately has been prominently missing for an independent airport for Pune. The land price was no cheaper there than in Pune, and it all belonged to local farmers, but that did not deter the authorities from pushing ahead and completing the project. For Pune, this excuse has been utilized to change the proposed location three times and still no positive action has been taken to acquire the land, in spite of several Chief Ministers, of all political hues, having assured the citizens of Pune repeatedly, that the airport will come up “soon”!!!  During this period many other airports have started operations even in Maharashtra as well as in other states. Shirdi, which has little commercial significance as compared to Pune, has been provided an airport, while Pune’s justified demand languishes for years.

Anywhere in the world an airport is considered to be the most critical and vital infrastructure and backbone of development of the Country-State–Region-City. It is beyond comprehension that Pune Region which has contributed and continues to contribute such a large percentage of the state’s and national GDP and has seen tremendous economic growth over the last few decades has been ignored and neglected, in this respect.

The present airport in Pune is owned by Indian Air Force. They have been generous and most accommodating to the civil aviation needs so far. This airport is capable of handling about 190-200 civil aircraft movements per day and over 80 lac passengers per year (these figures are of pre-pandemic period) use this airport. Since 1st November, 2021, the airport is now open for civil operations after the re-carpeting of runway is over, for which reason the flights had been totally suspended for over a fortnight, which is unheard of in any modern city.   

In fact, Pune Airport was designed to handle only about 10-12 lac passengers annually. I got tremendous support from Shri Prataprao Ji Pawar, for development of this airport to the present level. However, it should be understood that the present airport in Pune is now fully saturated for civil movements. In a few years, it would need to handle over 1 crore passengers per year, which will be beyond its capacity. The runway length at this airport is very short which makes it impossible to operate bigger aircrafts. Moreover, different type of infrastructure is needed to handle wide bodied twin aisle aircrafts, which this airport is just not capable of.

Because of short runway length, even long haul small (single aisle) aircrafts are forced to stop at least once on way for refueling, which was the case with Lufthansa flying from Pune to Frankfurt. It was not possible for them to take full load of passengers and the fuel. They had to sacrifice one of the two, thus making the flight operations financially unviable, leading to its suspension.

This airport is a strategic airfield for Indian Air Force and I understand that Air Force is planning to bring additional squadrons and fighter planes here in the next few years.  Therefore any major additions to the Civil Aviation infrastructure and flights are almost impossible at the present Airport in Pune. Besides this the need of Air Force cannot be ignored.

Pune Airport provided direct air links to Frankfurt, Sharjah, Dubai & Singapore besides many cities in India. Due to a variety of reasons, all the international connections have been stopped prior to the ongoing pandemic. Even when these flights were operating from Pune an estimated 1,50,000+ passengers from Pune and neighbouring districts had to travel to / from Mumbai and other cities in India for international flights. We were hoping to have at least one international connectivity to the east (e.g. Singapore/Bangkok) and the other to west (Dubai/other locations) in the coming months. A recent news article suggests that due to International norms and restrictions, no International flights will be permitted to operate from military airports i.e. Pune, Goa etc. However, there is no sign of any movement to proceed with an independent airport for the Pune region, and to add insult to injury, senior government officials point to the upcoming airport at Navi Mumbai as being adequate for Puneites!!!

Considering the volume of passengers and potential for growth, the present airport would soon be out of capacity for any further expansion.  In the last few months, we have already seen that the facilities have not been able to serve larger number of air travellers in time, forcing Airports Authority of India and Airlines to direct passengers to come to the airport at least three hours ahead of departure time. To put it in perspective, this is more than the actual time of air travel to all destinations in India to which Pune is directly connected. 

Pune region and neighbouring districts handle their international air cargo at Sahar Air cargo complex at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai. Almost 20% of the international air cargo handled at CSIA (i.e. over 1,20,000 tones annually) pertains to Pune and the neighbouring districts.

Many Industrial Parks and IT Parks have come up and are under implementation/being planned in Pune region. The city also has S. L. Kirloskar International Convention Centre operational since 2012. The State Government has given approval for the International Exhibition Centre at Moshi. These projects can under no circumstances realise their full potential unless and until an Independent International Airport Project is set up in Pune region at the earliest.

The New Airport will give a major boost to the services such as logistics, warehousing, ground staff, residential and industrial activity in Pune region. This will generate tremendous employment for local population and bring substantial additional revenues to the State Government.

Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), Pune has been actively pursuing the setting up of an independent Airport for Pune for over two decades. (In fact during the 1965 war with Pakistan when the Airport was used only for Air Force Operations, the idea of a separate airport was first mooted by Late Shri S. L. Kirloskar – who was also the President of the Chamber at that time). Site surveys near Pune city were done. But alas, matters did not progress.

I believe that it is high time that the process of setting of independent airport in Pune region starts at the earliest, if not immediately. The modalities of setting up of the Independent airport such as the development model (PPP, stakeholder ownership, EPC etc.), as single runway with a possibility to add another one later, security concerns which warrant separation of Terminal building  and runway etc., are matters of detail and can be worked out in due course of time. If the space to be acquired is big enough then an Aerocity with industrial parks and commercial as well as residential areas can be developed with a smart, green and sustainable city concept in mind.

Maharashtra Government now needs to move fast on setting up of the Independent Airport in this region. I must mention that this airport will not only be for Pune city alone. It would serve all the Districts under Pune Division and several other districts in the neighborhood – which covers a population of 3 crores (almost 25% of Maharshtra State’s total Population of about 12 crores.) The airport will be a force multiplier for Pune region’s economic development. It will boost exports of agriculture and many other sectors from Pune and surrounding districts. It will provide good quality employment to youth, which is a dire need of the hour. This will also give a fillip to the logistics sector. The spin-off benefits are too numerous and well-known to be reiterated.

Urgent actions required for setting up of an independent airport in Pune region 

• Pune region has been registering a strong growth in investments, GDP and employment and revenues to the Government over the last few years.

• The need for an independent airport has been highlighted ever since 1965, when the present airport belonging to the Air Force was closed for civil operations due to obvious reasons.

• Pune Airport has registered a robust growth in the number of passengers particularly in the last decade. From a mere one lakh passengers, to about 80 lac passengers as of today. The normal increase has been almost over 20 % compounded, except for one year when the growth was marginal

• Over the last few years, the Air Force has been kind enough to accommodate many of the requirements of civil aviation at Pune airport (additional flights, more facilities, space for some infrastructure facilities etc.). However, we understand that the Air Force will not be in a position to give more time slots and/or space for civil operations due to time and space constraints.

• We must appreciate that the Indian Air Force has followed the principle of co-existence with Civil Aviation. But considering the strategic importance of this Air Force Base, the IAF may not be in a position to accommodate any of the civil aviation needs in the next 2-3 years.

• We cannot ignore the needs of the Air force.

• There is no international air connectivity at the moment from the present airport, and there is a strong possibility that there will not be any international connectivity in the future form this military airport.

• Since most of the international flights land in Mumbai at night, it is very inconvenient and dangerous for air travellers to travel to Pune at odd hours on the already-congested and risk-prone expressway between Pune and Mumbai

• The runway at the Pune airport is very short and wide bodied aircrafts cannot land on the same. Even if the length of runway is increased, it will not be possible for this airport (with present infrastructure) to handle passengers of twin aisle aircrafts. As such only an independent airport can serve the needs of this region.

• The present airport does not have a complete Air Cargo Terminal to handle international air cargo. An estimated 20 % of the international air cargo (1,20,000 tonnes annually) presently cleared at CSIA; Sahar-Mumbai pertains to Pune and surrounding districts. The planned independent international airport can be a major cargo hub and will support the growth of Pune region and neighbouring districts which will bring substantial additional revenues to the Government and employment opportunities.

• Any Airport which is more than 30-35 km away from the city centre cannot be called Pune Airport.

For the next few decades, the Pune airport will serve as an icon of economic development of our region that many of us have been anxiously waiting for a long time!