Summer schedule may not bring cheers to Pune flyers

Pune: The upcoming summer schedule from Sunday is unlikely to be an exciting affair for Pune because of limited flight additions and disruption in international connectivity.Minor schedule adjustments are expected, though. IndiGo's Patna flight would have a red-eye slot, but the 15 additional slots allocated to Pune last year might remain underutilised, a source said.Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke said he was yet to receive the final summer schedule. "We don't have any clarity on whether new flights will be added or not. Once the schedule is finalised, details will be made public," he said.Pune airport handles around 190–195 flight movements daily. The passenger traffic ranges between 34,000 and 35,000. Before the West Asia conflict, the airport recorded over 200 flight movements and nearly 40,000 passengers per day.SpiceJet and IndiGo's regular flights to Dubai have been suspended because of the war in West Asia. So has been the Air India Express service to Abu Dhabi. IndiGo recently suspended its Pune–Bangkok operations and Air India did the same earlier on Pune–Singapore route.The number of international services from Pune has now dwindled to just one — the Air India Express flight to Bangkok. Officials indicated that no new international service would be introduced under the new summer schedule.According to estimates, airlines will operate just over 23,000 domestic flights during the summer schedule period ending Oct 24 — roughly 10% less than the last year. Carriers are prioritising new airports such as Navi Mumbai International Airport and Noida International Airport because of greater slot flexibility compared to capacity-constrained hubs like Pune. "We aren't saying that there won't be new flights from the city but airlines will be careful as fares have gone up," a senior airline official said, requesting anonymity.Aviation expert Sanjay Lazar highlighted that airlines were reworking their schedules because of airspace restrictions over Iran and Pakistan. "There is a strong possibility of an interim mid-summer schedule depending on how long the conflict continues. Unfortunately, Pune's available slots have not been effectively leveraged," he said.Aviation analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar said Pune's strong domestic demand could act as a buffer despite international setbacks. "Airlines may explore Pune as a secondary hub for domestic expansion," he said.===================