Lohegaon airport expansion gets green signal, international airport remains grounded.

For a city looking forward to be ‘smart’, the most uphill and equally urgent task is to get its own international airport to unshackle the woes of civil aviation. The year 2015 again did not bring much hope for the citizens of Pune as the dream to see a dedicated civil airport for Pune remained only on paper.

The plan to develop a new airport at Chakan or Khed or any other remains on paper. While the guardian minister for Pune District, Girish Bapat, and Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, have claimed that they are taking ‘active interest’ in the project, there’s no concrete development so far. While the civil aviation department is positive about the project, the hurdle is finding a suitable land allotment.

The only ‘goodnews’ that came in 2015 was the announcement by the defence ministry approving the use of additional 15 acres at Lohegaon Airport for the expansion of facilities. Airport officials say that although it would take four-five months for physical work to commence, the details of handing over the land from defence land to AAI are being worked out. “The handing over of land has started,” says Ajay Kumar, director, Lohegaon Airport.

Aviation expert and former Air India official Dhairyasheel Vandekar says, the phenomenal passenger and cargo growth needs to be complemented with world-class facilities and newer domestic and international connections. Delay in making such facilities may prove a severe setback to the trade and commerce, adds Vandekar.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS