Till two months ago one of the main attractions at the Lohegaon International Airport was the facility to buy a ticket for the visitors gallery and enjoy the sight of aeroplanes taking off or landing at the runway. But this will be a thing of the past now. The aerobridges coming up at the airport will completely block the view of the aeroplanes from the gallery,thus making the visitors gallery virtually non-functional. As part of its upgradation work,the Pune Airport is constructing aerobridges that will connect the airport terminals directly to the aircraft. This will make boarding and disembarking easy for passengers. Two such aerobridges are currently being constructed at the airport. We have proposed to construct four aerobridges at the airport. Out of them,two are being constructed and the work is going on in full swing. But the aerobridges have started blocking the view of the aircraft taking off or landing on the runway from the visitors gallery,hence the gallery has no attraction any more. Since there is no visibility from the gallery,we had to shut the gallery, director of the Pune Airport captain Deepak Shastri said. On any given day,hundreds of people and even schoolchildren would come to enjoy the view of flights. For this,visitors have to purchase a ticket of Rs 45 per person. Along with losing an attraction,the airport has had to bear the loss of revenue as well. Commenting on the bridges,Shastri said,At present,passengers have to board an aircraft by walking along the ground-level tarmac and climbing a set of movable stairs. But by March,we would be able to open the aerobridges for passengers at least on a trial basis. Shastri confirmed that the viewing gallery being shut down had nothing to do with security.
