Pune airport resumes operations after IAF aircraft snag shuts runway overnight

Flight operations at Pune Airport were back on track Saturday morning, hours after a late-night scare brought everything to a standstill. An Indian Air Force aircraft developed a technical snag while landing on Friday night, forcing authorities to shut the runway completely.

The issue, traced to an undercarriage failure around 10:25 pm, effectively shut down the runway and threw flight schedules into disarray, with airlines cancelling both arrivals and departures through the night.

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Officials said the aircraft remained stuck on the runway after the snag, leaving authorities with no option but to suspend all flight movements immediately. The crew onboard was safe, and no injuries or damage to civil property were reported.

Runway cleared after overnight repair work

Clearance and repair operations were carried out on priority through the night, with authorities working to restore normal operations at the earliest.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed that the work was completed on a war footing.

“The runway at Pune Airport was temporarily unavailable following an incident involving an IAF aircraft. Runway repair work has since been completed on a war footing, with safety maintained as the top priority throughout. Departure operations will resume from 07:30 AM, and arrival operations will commence from 08:00 AM. Air traffic in Pune is expected to gradually return to normal over the course of the day,” Mohol said in a post on X.

Officials said departure services resumed from 7:30 am, followed by arrival flights from 8:00 am.

The Indian Air Force later confirmed that the runway had been fully restored and cleared for operations.

“The runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational. All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner,” the IAF said in a post on X.

IAF confirms crew safety, restoration efforts

The Indian Air Force had earlier acknowledged the incident and confirmed that efforts were underway to operationalise the runway.

“Pune runway is temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an IAF aircraft. The aircrew are safe and there is no damage to civil property. Efforts are underway to operationalise the runway and resume normal operations at the earliest,” the IAF said.

Initial estimates from Air Traffic Control suggested it could take four to five hours to clear the obstruction and restore flight movements.

Airlines hit hard as cancellations pile up

The overnight disruption led to a significant number of cancellations across major carriers.

According to the Airport Director, 31 arrivals and 34 departures of IndiGo were cancelled. Air India saw three arrivals and three departures cancelled, while SpiceJet cancelled two arrivals and three departures. Akasa Air reported two arrivals and three departures cancelled, and Air India Express cancelled five arrivals and five departures.

Operations are now being restored in phases, with authorities indicating that normalcy will return gradually over the course of the day.