Hopes brighten for extension of runway at Pune Airport

Pune: There are indications that the runway at the Pune Airport will be extended. Pune MP and Union Minister of State for Civic Aviation Murlidhar Mohol has written a letter to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in this connection. Mohol has requested Singh to allow a joint survey to examine if the extension of the runway is possible and to instruct the Indian Air Force (IAF) in this regard.

The runway of the airport belongs to the IAF. Hence, he has written a letter to Rajnath Singh. He will also meet Singh on Monday.

The Pune Airport ranks ninth in terms of the number of passengers in the country. Over 80 lakh passengers travelled from the airport last year. The runway needs to be extended and infrastructure needs to be improved to retain the volume of passengers in the future. Currently, the problem can be solved by extending the runway. This has been underlined in the letter.

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“Pune is a seat of learning. It is also an industrial and an IT hub. The proposal will boost the city’s development and strengthen the economy in a big way. A request has been made in the letter to grant permission for a survey to check if the runway can be extended and to issue necessary instructions. I will also meet the Defence Minister on Monday.”

• Murlidhar Mohol, Minister of State, Civil Aviation and Cooperation