Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
“Fly91 currently operates daily flights between Jalgaon and Pune. We would be glad to start daily flights from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Mumbai and Pune as well, but getting suitable slots at these airports has become a challenge. Without slots, we cannot commence operations,” said Manoj Chacko, Managing Director and CEO of Fly91 Airlines, in a communication to Sunit Kothari, Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of ATDF (Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation).
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, known as the gateway to Marathwada, has long awaited direct air connectivity to Pune, Maharashtra’s second-largest metropolitan city. Currently, the road to Pune is in poor condition, and the Nanded–Pune Express train operates via Manmad, taking nearly 7–8 hours by road or rail to reach Pune. As a result, passengers have been demanding direct air service for years. Lokmat had published a detailed report on this issue on November 12.
Following this, ATDF’s Sunit Kothari on Wednesday sent an email to multiple airlines — Indigo, Air India, Akasa, Air India Express, Fly91, and Star Air — requesting them to start a Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar–Pune–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar flight service.
Fly91’s MD Manoj Chacko promptly responded, expressing readiness to operate flights from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to both Mumbai and Pune, but also cited slot unavailability at these airports as the main obstacle.
Follow-up to Continue
“Since flights to Mumbai are already operational, we have requested Fly91 to prioritise launching flights to Pune. We will continue pursuing the authorities to ensure slots are allotted at the Pune airport,” said Sunit Kothari.
Immediate slot availability at Chikalthana airport
“We are actively following up to increase flight operations from our airport. Once airlines submit proposals, slots will be provided immediately,” confirmed Sharad Yewale, Director, Chikalthana Airport.