Pune airport handles 17 flights on first day of resumption

On the first day of resumption of flight services, the Pune international airport in Maharashtra has handled arrival and departure of 17 scheduled flights by Monday late evening, a senior aviation official said.

Domestic passenger flight operations, which remained suspended for two months owing to the nationwide lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, resumed on Monday. "Till Monday late evening, nine flights carrying 672 passengers landed at the Pune airport while eight flights with 985 passengers have taken off," said a Pune Airport Authority official.

With services of app-based cab aggregators not available as Pune falls in the COVID red zone, the passengers have been instructed to travel to and from the airport either in their own vehicles or use dial a rickshaw facility, he said. While no arriving passenger was stamped for "home quarantine", Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram said they are awaiting Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from the government.