Airports Authority of India, inaugurates new Apron at Pune’s Lohegaon airport
The work of the apron was undertaken by a company called M/s Brahma Infra, Balotara, Rajasthan and was completed in a period of 12 months
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Saturday inaugurated the apron at the Lohegaon airport in the city in the presence of Suresh Prabhu, union minister of civil aviation.
Prabhu called the new facility a positive step towards enhancing the infrastructure and experience at the airport.
He also stressed on the need for having remote cargo complexes with underground road connectivity to the airport just like the Metro to solve the issue of land availability and road infrastructure requirements due to increasing activity at airports.
The new apron at the city airport with a size of 198 metres x100 metres and link taxi track of size 79 m x 23 m was built at an expenditure of ₹14 crore.The apron has been built on the part of the additional 15.84 acres provided by IAF.
Limited number of aircraft parking bays at the Lohegaon airport has long been a cause of passenger inconvenience. Thanks to the new apron facility, that scenario will change for the better as the holding capacity of the airport will increase, said a senior airport official, on condition of anonymity.
According to the official, with expansion of the apron, its holding capacity has increased by 50 per cent and in case of delays or bunching of flights at any point in time, passengers will not be inconvenienced.
The official added that there will not be any delay in flight movement on account of space constraints in the apron.
The work of the apron was undertaken by a company called M/s Brahma Infra, Balotara, Rajasthan and was completed in a period of 12 months.
What is the apron?
The airport apron is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, or boarded. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles. It is typically more accessible to users than the runway or taxiway.
Salient features of the work:
1. Number of parking bays increased from 8 to 12.
2. Apron size increased from 343 m x100 m to 541 m x100 m.
3. Number of taxiways increased from 3 to 4.
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