MoD allocates land to Pune Airport for cargo operations

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that a 13 acre defence land parcel will be allotted to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for Pune International Airport. The airport currently has only 500 sq ft of space for its cargo operations. The land parcel will be given from the BSO yard and the CWE office, and will include a 2.5 acre land parcel allotted earlier. The decision comes at the right time considering that India will soon resume its scheduled international flights.
We have received a letter from the MoD and now, a committee will be formed. The committee will check the inventory of the defence land which is going to be handed over so that the same type of inventory can be allotted to another land before the handover takes place.” said, Santosh Dhoke, Director, Pune International Airport
The currently limited space occupied by the Airport for cargo services limits its international as well as domestic cargo operations, putting it far below the other airports in India. The Airport authorities are also planning to develop an airport apron on the said land, which is being touted to bring a boost to the overall development of Pune Airport. “The 13 acre of land will be occupied by national and international cargo and an apron will be created for the air craft. Right now, we cannot say exactly how much square feet of land we will have for cargo but expansion is a must,” said Dhoke.
Pune International Airport, being close to the economic capital of India, Maharashtra, has seen a rise in the number of number of exports as well as the volume of exports in recent years. The goods normally exported are parts and accessories of various electrical systems, small motor vehicle parts and perishable goods such as fruits & vegetable, and seafood. Considering their tonnage capacity i.e. 2 tons approx per airlines, the Pune ACC can cater to approx 150 tonne export monthly with its EDI system fully working.
As of now, Pune Airport handles only domestic cargo and most international cargo is shipped via Mumbai Airport. If the space for the cargo facility at Pune airport is increased, several new domestic destinations along with international cities will also be added to the cargo services.