The runway at Pune airport was made operational on Saturday morning, a day after an Indian Air Force aircraft made a hard landing and damaged it. Flight operations had been halted on Friday night after the runway was shut following the incident.

“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,” IAF said on X (formerly Twitter).

Flight operations at Pune airport were shut late Friday night after an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft. Efforts are being made to restart operations as soon as possible, the IAF said in a post on X earlier.

“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,” IAF said.

It also said work is ongoing to make the runway operational again and resume normal services. “Efforts are underway to operationalise the runway and resume normal operations at the earliest.”

A police officer said the aircraft had a “hard landing” but did not share further details, PTI reported.

What led to runway blockage?

Airport officials said the incident took place around 10:25 pm when a fighter aircraft’s landing gear failed during landing, which blocked the runway. Based on information from Air Traffic Control (ATC), clearing the runway and restarting operations was expected to take around four to five hours.

“As per IAF ATC, it will take 4-5 hours to clear the runway and restore normal operations,” they said.

IndiGo issues advisory

Airlines, including IndiGo, advised passengers to check their flight status before going to the airport. Travellers affected by cancellations were given options to reschedule or claim refunds.

“Due to the unavailability of the runway at Pune airport, some flights to and from Pune may be impacted. We understand this may affect your travel plans, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. We recommend checking your flight status before heading to the airport,” IndiGo said in its advisory shared on X.

Flights diverted to other cities

Flight tracking data showed that at least eight flights heading to Pune were diverted to other airports, including Surat, Goa, Navi Mumbai, Chennai and Coimbatore, due to the disruption.

Passengers faced delays and had to deal with rerouting while work to restore operations continued.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol also confirmed that runway operations were temporarily suspended.

“Thankfully, the aircrew are safe and there has been no damage to civil property. Airlines have been informed, and it may take approximately 5 hours to restore normal runway operations,” Mohol said in a post on X.

Adding to it he mentioned that, “I am in constant touch with the Airport Director and Air Force officials to ensure the situation is resolved at the earliest”.

Pune Airport, which handles both civilian and military flights, is one of the busiest in Maharashtra. Since it has only one runway, any disruption can quickly lead to delays across several routes, especially during busy hours.