Jan 17, 2005 05:04 PM
3898 Views
(Updated Jan 17, 2005 05:04 PM)
The Pune Lohegaon airport is smaller than a railway station of a small city. Due to its small size, it is amazingly clean (quite unlike the habits of Indians in general) and orderly. Moreover, just a few flights operate at this airport, making it mess-free. Needless to say, the airport just does not have the capacity to handle large passenger load.
Actually, this is an army airport, (correct me if I am wrong), and they have mercifully handed over for civil aviation just for a few hours of a day. For example, no flights can come in after 8 pm, and no aircraft can station there at all in the night. Therefore, there is nothing like late-night flights for or to Pune.
The approach is clean, and again, it is because it is a road less travelled.
Pune is growing like anything, and therefore, the airport is inadequate for the city. It is just not comparable in any terms to its big brother Bombay.
It is also not well connected to other Indian cities. For example, there is no direct flight to Kolkata - only one or two hopping ones. This shoots up the air fare.