IndiGo Airbus A320-232(SL) VT-IFK with Sharklets.
IndiGo Airbus A320-232(WL) VT-IFK with Sharklets. Photo copyright Vedant Agarwal.

IndiGo strengthens Pune presence

India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, has strengthened its presence in the industrial town of Pune, with the arrival of its 73rd Airbus A320 aircraft.

Highlighting the growing economic strength of the city which has seen air traffic double in the last five years, despite a severely constrained airport, IndiGo announced new flights connecting Pune non-stop with Kolkata and additional non-stops to New Delhi, effective January 15, 2014. The airline’s flight tally is now up to 456 daily flights connecting 35 destinations.

New flight schedules

Flt no. Origin Destination Frequency Dep. time Arrival time Effective
6E 523 Pune Kolkata Daily 10:30 13:00 15 Jan
6E 524 Kolkata Pune Daily 18:25 21:35 15 Jan
6E 134 Pune Delhi Daily 15:20 17:30 15 Jan
6E 135 Delhi Pune Daily 10:20 12:30 15 Jan

Flights re-timed due to Pune airport closure

IndiGo has also re-timed its flights due to the runway closure at Pune Airport.

Flt no. Origin Destination Frequency Dep. time Arrival time Effective
6E 591 Delhi Nagpur Daily 5:50 7:35 15 Jan
6E 592 Nagpur Delhi Daily 8:05 9:15 15 Jan
6E 501 Pune Chennai Daily 10:30 12:20 15 Jan
6E 502 Chennai Pune Daily 13:05 14:40 15 Jan

New airport at Pune

Traditionally, Pune has been a large automotive manufacturing hub, home to known brands like Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Tempo (now Force India), TELCO (now Tata Motos), along with industrial houses like Kirloskar Cummins, etc. Today, the region between Pune and Aurangabad has grown in to the largest automotive manufacturing hub in India. Global electronics majors like LG have set-up massive manufacturing operations in Ranjangaon, north-east of Pune and India’s wine industry is clustered around Pune; from Nashik towards the north of the city, to Akluj towards the south-east.

Pune is served by Air Force Station (AFS), Lohegaon, which is the front-line fighter base protecting the economic capital of Mumbai. Along with AFS Bareilly, which protects the national capital New Delhi, Lohegaon is the only air base with two squadrons of the nation’s creme-de-la-creme Su-30MKI air superiority fighters. However, the growth of commercial air services at Pune are being throttled due to the operational needs of the air force who need the base to fly regular sorties and does not have land to spare for the civilian enclave to grow. There is no denying the need for a new airport at Pune, but in a lethargy, typical of the Indian government, funds are not being allocated for the project.

About IndiGo

Sorry if this appears like a press release, but once in a while, it helps to understand the airline and its parent company.

IndiGo is India’s largest airline with a market share of 28.6 per cent as of November, 2013 as well as the country’s largest low fare carrier. With its fleet of 73 new Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline offers 456 daily flights connecting 35 destinations – Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bangkok, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Chennai, New Delhi, Dibrugarh, Dubai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu, Kathmandu, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Muscat, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Singapore, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Vadodara, and Vishakhapatnam

IndiGo, a brand of Interglobe Aviation, is led by its President, Aditya Ghosh and is jointly promoted by InterGlobe Enterprises and Mr. Rakesh Gangwal, an aviation industry veteran and entrepreneur. Established in 1989‚ with headquarters in Gurgaon‚ today InterGlobe has a network of 126 offices across 59 cities and employs more than 11,000 professionals across its businesses which include IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation)‚ InterGlobe Technologies‚ InterGlobe Air Transport‚ InterGlobe Technology Quotient‚ InterGlobe Hotels, InterGlobe Retail, and InterGlobe Established.

About Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

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