Pune Airport to Impose Penalty on Vehicles Waiting for More Than 15 Minutes Near the Arrival Terminal

Pune Airport faces a crippling traffic congestion near arrival terminal due to vehicles waiting to pick up friends and family members arriving by flights. To address this situation, Pune airport will start imposing Rs. 500 penalty on vehicles waiting for more than 15 minutes near the arrival terminal.

At present Pune airport handles about 208 daily flights and the road outside arrival terminal gets heavily congested due to parked cars waiting to pick up arriving flyers.

Pune airport authorities have submitted a proposal to Airports Authority of India to charge a penalty of Rs. 500 to drivers who idle their vehicles for more than 15 minutes near the terminals. The proposal is likely to get approved as this is the norm in many airports across the country.

Once approved, this ruling can be enforced quickly. Some reports are suggest the proposal has already been approved and the airport authorities in the process of finalizing the modalities of the new regulation.

The enforcement will be done by noting the entry and exit time of the vehicles. One possible method could be that the vehicles are issued a time-stamped receipt at the time of entry which needs to be returned at the exit gate and if the duration inside the premises exceeds 15 minutes, the penalty will be payable.

However, the exact details will be available within a few days, once the airport authorities make an official announcement of the same, but the likelihood of this rule being imposed is almost certain.

It may be noted that Pune is one of the fastest growing aviation hubs and 15 more check-in counters are going to be added soon, once the renovated old terminal comes online and such measures may become necessary to ensure using Pune airport for travel becomes a pleasant experience. By next month, Pune airport will have 49 check-in counters.

However, there have been mixed reactions on this proposal. While majority of the airport users have welcomed this move, citing increasing congestion at the airport, many have expressed concern, stating that at times, due to delayed landings and more time taken at the baggage claim belts, it becomes necessary for the waiting vehicles to be in the premises longer, in order to pick the arriving passengers.

We will keep you posted on the official announcement of the new regulation as and when it happens.