The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) is all set to start air-conditioned electric bus services from the airport to five areas of the city. “The PMPML is planning to start e-buses from the airport to Kothrud, Hadapsar, Hinjewadi, Swargate and Nigdi. A total of 43 e-buses would be deployed for the special service.,” said Rajendra Jagtap, managing director of PMPML. The demand for starting the bus service was made by Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials posted at Pune airport, citing parking issues due to the increasingly large number of private vehicles coming to the airport every day. The service will be on the lines of bus facilities available from the airport at Hyderabad and Bengaluru, said Jagtap, adding that buses will ply every five minutes, which will help in addressing the traffic problem faced at the airport. There is a shortage of space to park buses at the airport, so the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will have to provide some land for the purpose, said the PMPML chief. There is a need to set up a charging station near the airport for e-buses, along with a parking facility. The demand for the service will increase in the future and the facility will also act as a feeder service for the Metro rail network, said Jagtap. During a meeting with airport authorities, it was decided that two buses would be parked at the airport exit gate at a time and the remaining buses would be parked near the airport, for which land has been sought from the PMC, he said. The AAI, while seeking the PMPML service, had pointed out that the Pune airport had seen more than 90 lakh passengers from nearly 60,000 flights in 2018-19, but there was no adequate parking area available to cater to such a large footfall. A multi-level car parking facility to accommodate 5,000 vehicles is being built and is expected to be ready by June next year.
