Trial run for 3 aerobridges next month at Pune airport

PUNE: The trial run of the three new aerobridges at the city airport will start from the second week of June. Officials said the three aerobridges were supposed to be ready by May, but there were delays. Most of the parts of the bridges are being assembled here.
“We expect the work to be over by the first week of June. But before allowing the passengers to use them, there will be trial runs for at least 10-15 days,” an official said.
“The timing of the bridges getting ready is perfect, considering the arrival of monsoon. There have been several complaints every year about passengers getting wet while boarding a flight in the absence of the aerobridges,” the official said.
Once the three new aerobridges become operational, the airport will have five such facilities. “This will be a decent number. All civil work related to the aerobridges is complete,” the official said.
The new terminal building of the Pune airport is under construction and it will have five more aerobridges. “We are looking at 10 aerobridges at the airport by 2021,” another official said.
The aerobridges are important in terms of basic facilities for the flyers. The airport has been receiving dismal ratings since last year in the Airports Council International’s survey on passenger facilities.
“We want the rankings to improve. We hope that the passengers will appreciate the bridges once they become operational,” the official said.
The project was announced in 2016 at Rs18 crore. “There were delays because of some technical reasons. The project is in its final stage now,” he said.
Puneet Mishra, who has to often travel from the Pune airport, said the project should not have been delayed at all. “It is high time that these bridges were installed and put to use for the passengers. Almost three years have passed since we are hearing about them. Like many other passengers, I have laos faced inconveniences in the absence of the aerobridges,” he told TOI.