Pune: Nearly a month after Pune MP and minister of state for civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol , handed the first boarding pass to a passenger at the airport ’s new terminal building , only 56 flights (28 arrivals and 28 departures) of around 195 daily services are operating out of it. The reason is obvious for every flyer to see — incomplete infrastructure such as F&B and retail outlets, and relocation of the DigiYatra facility and immigration. Facing criticism from political parties and passengers alike, Mohol told TOI on Sunday: “All flight operations, including those for international destinations, will shift to the new terminal building by the first week of September.
” He said the airport has, on an average, got a total of 190 flight movements (95 departures and 95 arrivals) daily. “By August 14, as many as 124 of them (62 arrivals and 62 departures) will relocate to the new building. The operations of the remaining 66 flights (33 arrivals and 33 departures) will continue from the old building but they too will be shifted by the first week of next month or sooner.
” When the building was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 10, airport officials claimed all facilities were ready. However, it was not until July 14 when Mohol officially declared it operational that a few airlines shifted their operations. Mohan Joshi, vice president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, said he had recently travelled three times from the new buil.