PUNE: Arrival and departure of flights on time at the Lohegaon airport are becoming increasingly uncertain with the Airports Authority of India registering over 8,000 delays between January and September last year.Airport officials said 11-12 flights leaving Pune and 13-15 arriving at the city airport get delayed every day and the number increases to around 20 if there’s fog and low visibility at other airports.An official said weather was one of the main factors delaying the incoming flights. “In almost all cases, an aircraft makes multiple rounds. Once an aircraft lands here, it has to either return to the point of origin or carry on towards the onward journey. If there’s a delay on one route, it has a cascading effect here,” the official told TOI.Hundreds of flyers were stuck for hours at the city airport on January 7 after 36 flights faced delays because of the fog in Delhi as well as in Bengaluru.A recent survey by UK-based air consultancy firm OAG revealed that only two Indian carriers — IndiGo and Air Asia — have made it to the Top 20 most punctual airlines in 2018 in various categories. Besides, four Indian airports — Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar — were in the list of the top 20 facilities with the best on-time performance.“I have faced a situation when a flight from Delhi was diverted to Mumbai for inadequate parking bays in Pune. Flights are also delayed because after arrival, they are made to wait for almost 40 minutes when the parking bays are occupied,” businessman and frequent flyer Samrat Akula said.The number of flights arriving and leaving the airport has shot up from 170 six months ago to around 200 now. Between 9.30pm and 1am, close to 30 flights depart and an equal number of aircraft lands at the Pune airport. The facility has 10 parking bays, which the experts say are inadequate to cater to the flights the facility handles daily.The Pune airport is under the Indian Air Force (IAF). On November 22, 2018, a morning GoAir flight from Delhi was diverted to Mumbai and delayed by 3 hours because of IAF movements in the Pune air space.Aviation analyst Dhairyashil Vandekar said, “Overall, the efficiency of airlines in turning round a flight at the Pune airport has been quite satisfactory. But the delay in allotment of parking bay after landing because of apron congestion, air force exercises, terminal/security congestion and other operational reasons cause delays. Only a 24-hour civil airport can change the situation.”

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