In a major relief for the city, Murlidhar Mohol, minister of state for civil aviation, today announced that the obstacle limitation survey (OLS) has received a positive response.
This will allow the extension of the runway at Pune Airport and will also help welcome international flight operations.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, the high-level meeting took place on Tuesday at the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation. The development was revealed by Mohol, who sounded optimistic as he added:
“The OLS report for the runway extension is positive, which means we can expect international flights from Pune Airport after addressing a few technical issues.”
Code ‘E’ aircraft will be permitted for these international flights, said Mohol, noticing that most of the technical aspects still have to be finalized, “but this OLS has been completed very fast. It is fantastic news for the people of Pune,” he added.
The meeting discussed various items, such as acquiring land from the state government, transferring land from the Ministry of Defence, apron area, runway length, and a new terminal building for Pune Airport.
Mohol directed the AAI to liaise closely with the Ministry of Defence and the state government to undertake further pre-project work.
Notable dignitaries present on the occasion included the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Kulintang Vietnam; the additional secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Deepti Moil Chawla; AAI chairperson M. Suresh; Pune divisional commissioner Chandrakant Plunder; group captain Manoj Rana; air marshal Y.K. Dixit; and director of Pune Airport Santosh Dhaka.
