This morning, Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Civil Aviation tweeted that the aviation ministry has given a nod for Pune’s new airport to be built in Purandar.
Pune’s only airport at Lohegaon is running beyond its full capacity. Passenger traffic has increased from 6.76 million to 8.1 million in 2017-18. As per Airports Authority of India, the single terminal airport’s per hour passenger handling capacity is limited to 450.
Since it is a defence airport, there are limited options for its expansion, as well as limitations to increase the number of commercial and cargo flight movements from 90 to 154 as required.
Estimated cost for the project that will cover an area of 2,400 hectares is about ₹ 14,000 crore. It will be developed by state-owned Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC).
Work on the Purandar airport will commence once MADC receive regulatory clearance. There is hope that it will be functional by 2023.
