Modernisation plan at IAF station set for a take-off
Airport gears up to handle one flight every seven minutes, increased passenger traffic.
3 min read
Airport director Manoj Kumar Gangal shows the bullet-proof glass security cabins recently installed at the entrance as part of the Modernisation of Airfield Infrastructure project. Sandeep Daundkar
Talking to The Sunday Express, airport director Manoj Kumar Gangal said: “The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been working closely with other stakeholders such as airlines, IAF, customs and immigration officials to ensure passengers are not put to any inconvenience. Marathon meetings have been carried out to plan a comfortable transit for them. There will be teething problems… however, we request passengers to cooperate.”
MAFI project is expected to bring state-of-the-art infrastructure such as modern Instrument Landing System (ILS) besides others to the Pune airport. With almost half of its 24 operational hours to be consumed for MAFI work, and the Air Force taking up the time slab between 8 am and 10.30 am to fly its fighter jets, the airport will have to operate all its 100-odd flight movements in the remaining time without cancelling any of the ongoing civilian flight operations. The airport handles close to 10,000 passengers on a day and the non-availability of early morning hours has resulted in modifications in the flying hours spread over the rest of the day.
Among the measures AAI has already put in place at the airport, the most significant one is inclusion of additional 1,300 square metre area to direct the increased vehicular traffic. “We have created additional two lanes to drain vehicles in case they queue up,” Gangal said.
Anticipating increased passenger traffic on the departure side, an additional departure gate — one each for three airlines — has been introduced. From the existing airline-wise check-in counters, Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE) counters have been put in place. “These are the counters any airline may use on the basis of their traffic and schedules,” Gangal added.
To ensure security, the airport has procured four bullet-proof glass cabins to be placed at the entrance for Rs 11 lakh. The CISF personnel who have been working overnight during the normal operational days will now be committed to day jobs during the three months, thus increasing the strength of security personnel during flight operation hours. The airport will also have two additional dog squads instead of existing two. “We have also created additional security hold areas to ensure smooth passage of passenger queues. Also, the number of X-ray machines has been increased to six from four,” said Gangal.
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