Chakan airport still grounded,private airstrip project at Saswad too stuck

The company said that an “airfield” and not an “airport” makes a viable option for the city given that an airfield need not comply with ICAO standards that an airport has to abide by,thus making it an easier,yet beneficial option to cater to the city’s aviation needs.

According to a detailed project report,the project proposes to develop a 6,700 feet airstrip and a commercial heliport with three helipads. What made it a viable model according to the company is private,non-scheduled flight operators,private helicopters/ and jets even today requiring to park aircraft in Aurangabad and other places due to ground handling and operating difficulties at Lohegaon. The approximately Rs 100-crore project was conceived in 2008 and was to be completed in five phases in 30 months from the date of commencement.

The model was to generate an annual revenue of Rs 21 crore. “The company purchased two acres of land,required to notify the coordinates of the proposed airstrip while seeking approval from IAF,MoD and other government agencies. We have additional 200 acres we would be requiring in future when the project takes off. Eventually,we had plans of expanding to provide cargo facility even for airlines,” said Wing Commander (retd) W H Marshall,chairman,GAAI.

On July 17,2008,the company wrote to MoD seeking a No Objection Certificate (NoC) for the airfield which was denied by the MoD on July 13,2009 citing that it has already accorded “in-principle” clearance to Chakan Airport and that opening of an airfield within Pune control zone will not be feasible. The Air HQ on December 9,2010 accorded an NOC (three year validity) for the “heliport only” and refused it for the “airfield.”

“We approached a realty giant and they were interested,but with the denial for the airfield,they backed off. We tried to work out a feasible model around the heliport,which the Air HQ approved by proposing a GP motor track,an automobile test track,a SEZ multiplex for technical overhaul of the aircraft but no financier has shown interest,” Marshall said.