Pune: Minister of State (MoS) Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, who is also the Member of Parliament from Pune Loksabha constituency, has taken cognizance of the unavialability of one parking bay at the Lohegaon airport in Pune. The parking bay was unutilized since a damaged Air India aircraft was parked there leading to delay of 8 flights daily.

MoS Mohol held discussions with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding shifting the damaged aircraft on the Defence Force premises.

Commenting on this issue, Mohol said, "The damaged Air India aircraft question is parked at the 'bay' of Pune airport and the same has put a strain on the passenger traffic of other aircrafts. Moreover, due to the non-use of this bay, the departure schedule of other flights is being affected. The aircraft is likely to take some more time to repair. Therefore, there is an option to temporarily shift the aircraft to the Defence Force site."

"On this issue, discussions were held today with Hon’ble Defence Minister Rajnath Singh ji regarding shifting the damaged aircraft on the Defence Force premises."

On May 16, an aircraft bound for Delhi from Pune Airport met with an accident. Considering the severity of the incident, the DGCA has initiated an investigation. A thorough examination of the aircraft was supposed to take place at Pune Airport. However, this inspection has not yet occurred. As a result, the damaged aircraft is still parked in 'Parking Bay No. 1'.

If one 'Parking Bay' is closed, the capacity of other 'Parking Bays' is affected, resulting in delayed operations. On average, 8 to 9 aircraft are parked in one 'Parking Bay' daily. The average daily movement of aircrafts on Pune airport ranges from 185 to 190. Every day, between 92 to 95 aircraft land on the Lohegaon air strip.