- Runway at Pune Airport was temporarily closed due to an IAF aircraft incident
- IAF confirmed aircrew are safe and no civil property was damaged
- IndiGo advised passengers to check flight status and offered refunds or alternatives
The runway at Pune Airport was temporarily unavailable on Friday following an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, officials said. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Indian Air Force said, "Pune runway is temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. The aircrew are safe and there is no damage to civil property. Efforts are underway to operationalise the runway and resume normal operations at the earliest."
A senior police official said an IAF aircraft experienced a "hard landing" but did not give any more details, as reported by PTI.
According to Pune Airport Director, the following flights were affected:
- 31 arrivals, 34 departures of IndiGo cancelled.
- Three arrivals, Three departures of Air India cancelled.
- Two arrivals, Three departures of SpiceJet cancelled.
- Two arrivals, Three departures of Akasa Air cancelled.
- Five arrivals, Five departures of Air India Express cancelled.
IndiGo Issues Advisory
IndiGo issued an advisory stating, "We understand the inconvenience caused due to the continued unavailability of the runway at Pune airport and truly regret the impact this may have on your travel plans. This situation is beyond our control, and we are working closely with the relevant authorities to manage the impact. We are proactively notifying customers on their registered contact details with updates on their bookings. We also recommend checking your flight status before heading to the airport."
The airline said that if their patron's flight is impacted, they may choose an alternate flight or opt for a full refund.
Murlidhar Mohol, Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Cooperation said repair work has been completed. In a post on X, Mohol wrote, "Runway repair work has since been completed on a war footing, with safety maintained as the top priority throughout. Departure operations will resume from 07:30 a.m., and arrival operations will commence from 08:00 a.m. Air traffic in Pune is expected to gradually return to normal over the course of the day." [sic]
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