PUNE: The Delhi-Pune circuit was among the world’s Top 100 busiest airline routes at the 72nd slot last year.Referring to a survey conducted by aviation research firm OAG, Pune airport director Ajay Kumar said the Delhi-Pune route finished ahead of circuits such as Mumbai-Goa, Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Hyderabad.The Delhi-Pune route recorded 2.6 million passengers in 2017 and grew at 20.6%. “This is the highest growth rate among Indian airport routes in the busiest air route category,” Kumar said in a WhatsApp message.In February this year, OAG had come up with a list of top 17 routes operated by Indian carriers. The Delhi-Pune-Delhi route had then finished at the 6th position — up from the 15th slot in 2007.“The route is very busy with almost all airlines having flights between Pune and the country’s capital. Not less than 21 flights fly between the destinations two cities every day,” an airport official said.A scrutiny at the flight schedules at the Pune airport reveals that 3 flights reach from Delhi between midnight and 3am. In the slot between 3am to 6am, two flights arrive from Delhi and four flights leave Pune for the national capital.Similarly, in the slot between 6am to 9am, 2 flights reach Pune from Delhi and 4 flights take off for the capital. The 9am to noon slot is equally busy with 6 arriving and 3 departing flights.Between noon and 3pm, one flight reaches Pune and the same aircraft leaves for Delhi. The slot between 3pm and 6pm records the arrival of 3 Delhi flights and two leave Pune. The slot between 6pm and 9pm witnesses arrival of 6 flights from Delhi and 8 flights leave for the capital. From 9pm to midnight, 4 flights arrive from Delhi and 2 flights leave Pune.Anshuman Joshi, a businessman here and a frequent flyer, said, “There’s a lot of trade happening between the capital and Pune, which is an IT hub. Besides, Pune is home to people from various states, including Delhi.Anant Sardeshmukh, director general of the Marhatta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, “The traffic between Pune and Delhi has increased substantially. The traffic is one directly to Delhi and the second to other domestic destinations in the north and also abroad..”Aviation expert and analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar said the Pune-Delhi air route has always been in demand. “Delhi is the capital and has many important central and state government offices. As a result, there’s a lot of to and fro movement of government officials, defence personnel, political workers, students and sportspersons,” he said.“Besides, there’s a heavy group movement via Delhi of passengers visiting pilgrim and tourist spots in states such as Uttarakhand , Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. In the absence of sufficient international direct flights from Pune, Delhi also serves as the gateway for travellers from western Maharashtra visiting the neighbouring countries and those in Europe, the US and Australia The total number of flights operating from Pune airport will will touch 230 by October-end. Last year, the total number of flights (arrival and departure) was 172. This year, it has increased to 200 until now. With the airport growing at 29% per year, sources said most flights are likely to be late evening or red eye with the authorities claiming that they have exhausted all the available day slots.

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