Pune airport gets 3 golf carts to ferry flyers from arrival gate to facility exit point
Joy Sengupta | TNN | Mar 12, 2019, 08:41 IST
Pune airportPUNE: The Lohegaon airport authorities have procured three golf carts to ferry passengers outside the terminal.
The move is aimed at providing relief to senior citizens and the physically challenged, while also seeking alleviate some of the frustration caused by the new parking and cab pickup system at the airport.
“The carts will mainly be used in the city side — the area in front of the terminal building — which has been decongested very recently. We are carefully looking at all aspects of the plan. The golf carts should become operational soon,” an official told TOI.
The plan is a consequence of the recently introduced parking plan, which has come under fire from passengers and experts alike. Under the new system, arriving passengers have to walk 200-250m through heavy Airport Road traffic to Parking No. 2 to catch a cab or an autorickshaw. They said the plan was introduced in a hurry without proper planning. Airport officials have justified it, however, saying that there was a need to segregate vehicles entering or exiting the airport, given the massive daily passenger traffic.
“The golf carts are free of charge. They will be useful for passengers who are unable to walk. They merely need to get in touch with the cart operators to be driven through the now-decongested area till the airport exit. There onwards, Parking No. 2 is barely 30 metres away,” another official said, adding that they were considering extending this service right till the parking lot. “The new system has started very recently. We need some more time to plan properly,” the official said.
Passengers remain a sceptical lot. “How can a new but incomplete system be introduced suddenly? The last exit gate has been closed and an opening been created next to it for passengers to exit from, cross the road and reach Parking No. 2. They have installed some barricades, but even so, one has to cross the road, which sees heavy traffic. How are these carts going to operate on the main road?” Samar Tule, a frequent flyer, told TOI.
The move is aimed at providing relief to senior citizens and the physically challenged, while also seeking alleviate some of the frustration caused by the new parking and cab pickup system at the airport.
“The carts will mainly be used in the city side — the area in front of the terminal building — which has been decongested very recently. We are carefully looking at all aspects of the plan. The golf carts should become operational soon,” an official told TOI.
The plan is a consequence of the recently introduced parking plan, which has come under fire from passengers and experts alike. Under the new system, arriving passengers have to walk 200-250m through heavy Airport Road traffic to Parking No. 2 to catch a cab or an autorickshaw. They said the plan was introduced in a hurry without proper planning. Airport officials have justified it, however, saying that there was a need to segregate vehicles entering or exiting the airport, given the massive daily passenger traffic.
“The golf carts are free of charge. They will be useful for passengers who are unable to walk. They merely need to get in touch with the cart operators to be driven through the now-decongested area till the airport exit. There onwards, Parking No. 2 is barely 30 metres away,” another official said, adding that they were considering extending this service right till the parking lot. “The new system has started very recently. We need some more time to plan properly,” the official said.
Passengers remain a sceptical lot. “How can a new but incomplete system be introduced suddenly? The last exit gate has been closed and an opening been created next to it for passengers to exit from, cross the road and reach Parking No. 2. They have installed some barricades, but even so, one has to cross the road, which sees heavy traffic. How are these carts going to operate on the main road?” Samar Tule, a frequent flyer, told TOI.
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