17 hours Ago
1 2 3 Pune: The minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Tuesday said between 225 to 250 acres of land would be needed for runway extension of the Lohegaon airport and the state govt will be initiating the process for the same. "We did an obstacle limitation survey (OLS) in coordination with the AAI, DGCA and defence authorities on the runway extension issue. The report was submitted to the ministry and it was positive.
The land acquisition process will be initiated by the state govt and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis will soon call for a meeting with all stakeholders," Mohol said while interacting with the media in Delhi on Tuesday. The OLS was held earlier this year. Currently, the length and width of the runway are 2,535 meters and 45 meters, respectively.
The plan is to extend the runway, which is managed by the IAF, to 500 meters on the eastern side and 300 meters on the western side. It will facilitate the airport authority to land wide-bodied aircraft. An estimated sum of Rs 160 crore will be needed for the same.
Of this, the state govt will cover 60% of the amount, 20% will be provided by PMC and both PCMC and PMRDA will provide 10% each. Additionally, talking about the Udan Café , Mohol said all airports in the country will have low-cost food outlets named ‘Udan Café'. "The first one was inaugurated at the Kolkata airport on today [Tuesday].
The regional connectivity scheme or Udan presently has over 600 routes, but passengers have been complaining about high-priced food outlets at the airports. Hence, such cafés will be opened across country," he said. The Lohegaon airport opened its first low-cost food outlet at the new terminal building a couple of days ago, Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke said.
"A half-litre water bottle costs Rs 20, tea costs Rs 30 and coffee and some snacks cost Rs 40. We will open more such outlets when directions come," Dhoke told TOI. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India .
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