Airlines Advised to Surrender Unused Slots at Pune Airport

Pune Airport authorities have urged all airlines to properly utilise their slots or surrender them. The directive has come in the absence of regular flight movements in 14 occupied slots.

Of the 216 slots available in Pune, only 206 slots have been occupied by airlines.

Pune airport director Santosh Dhoke said that often, airlines didn't start flights on their slots or operated flights as per their will. "For example, if on a given day, the passenger load at one destination is more, the airline will add an additional flight to that location on their slot. We have asked airlines to fully utilise the slots available to them so that flight movements increase and flyers get more options," he told TOI.

A slot is the permission given by the airport operator to an airline to land and take off its flights during a particular time of the day, and use the airport's full infrastructure during the process. At the Pune airport, a majority of empty slots are during late night and red-eye hours.

"We hoped that total flight movements would go up to more than 200 on most days but this hasn't happened as many slots are underutilised. Airlines should use the slots they have taken or surrender them so that they can be given to other airlines," another airport official said.

"If you look at the total flight movements presently, it touches 192 or 194 some times, and drops to 168 at other times. This is because airlines have to use the slots they have at least once every seven to 14 days according to the regulations. However, we want them to use the slots regularly, possibly every day," the official added.

Deepak Shastri, an aviation expert and former director of the Pune and Shirdi airports, told TOI that the airport operator had the right to ask back or even cancel the slot if they remained unused or underutilised.

"The distribution of slots to all airlines is finalised by a slot allocation committee consisting of members of all stakeholders, including DGCA. Airlines submit their own schedules, and then after a deliberation of seven days, DGCA approves it. If a slot is not being utilised or left empty, it mainly affects flyers as it results in the number of seats for a destination turning out to be less, which automatically has an impact on airfares," Shastri said.

When asked about the number of slots being utilised by the airline, an Air India Express spokesperson said: "From Pune, Air India Express operates 75 weekly flights connecting directly to nine destinations. Additionally, it provides one-stop connectivity to 20 domestic destinations and 9 international destinations."