In Pune, the Air Force Station (AFS), Lohegaon, has asked the Pune airport authorities to provide proper coordinates and survey details of a seven-acre private plot that the latter had identified for an air cargo complex. The plot is located near the newly developed vehicle parking lot outside the airport premises.    

PSRK Sudhakar, the outgoing director of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Pune, said on July 10 that the State government has conveyed its willingness to acquire this land for the cargo complex, but the acquisition can be carried out only after the AFS gives its no-objection certificate (NOC), as the land is located within 100 m of the Lohegaon airfield.    

The airport authorities have moved a plea for the NOC, following which the AFS sought more details about the plot. Sudhakar Pune airport is now ranked 10th among all airports in the country in terms of air passenger traffic. In the last two years, passenger traffic has grown at the rate of 18 per cent, he said.