IAF grants permission for developing greenfield airport at Purandar

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has granted permission to Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) for constructing the New Pune (Purandar) International Greenfield Airport Project. A team from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will now inspect the site for acquiring land for the project. Meanwhile, the MADC is awaiting the final clearance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to commence work on the project. The MoD had asked AAI to prepare a report on the common flying area and operational procedures for the airport. The report was submitted recently. Subsequently, the MoD has given a conditional clearance and has asked AAI to address three issues. These are the rearrangement of the Hyderabad-Gulbarga-Aghela-Mumbai and Hyderabad-Gulbarga-Aghela-Purandar flight routes, the National Defence Academy’s concerns about operations of their airstrip being affected once Purandar airport starts operations, and sharing airspace with Lohegaon airport.