Pune airport will remain closed for all flight operations from 12th February to 26th February, 2008 for runway re-carpeting work. There have been several issues with the Pune runway in the past few years, and it was decided that the best option was to completely renew the runway and keep the airport closed for 15 days. In addition a new taxi way is being built around the runway. Pune being a major destination for most Indian domestic airlines, there will be huge losses due to the two week closure.

Passengers flying to or from Pune will now have to go via Mumbai. Mumbai is approximately 180 kms (2.5 – 3 hours by road) from Pune. All airlines have stopped booking from and to Pune during this period. Jet Airways, JetLite, IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Kingfisher and Simplifly Deccan are all affected by the closure. All flights from Dubai and Singapore will now be operated from Mumbai for these two weeks.

How to go to Pune from Mumbai OR go to Mumbai from Pune

Commuting between Mumbai and Pune by road is a breeze with India’s finest six-lane Mumbai-Pune expressway. There are several luxury buses and taxi services running all day between the two cities. The drive takes approximately 3 hours. From Mumbai airport, you can take a taxi directly to Pune. Or you can go to the taxi stand at Dadar Circle which is just opposite to the State Transport Bus Stand and hire a taxi, or share a taxi with 4 other people.

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation also runs several buses to Pune daily from the Dadar bus stand at Dadar Circle. If you want to go by luxury bus, you will have to get in touch with any private bus operator like Prasanna Travels, Konduskar Travels etc. Their buses run from all over Mumbai for Pune.

From Pune you can get private or shared taxis for Mumbai from outside the Pune Railway Station. Many private luxury buses also start from the railway stations as well as from Sawargate, Kothrud and Shivaji Nagar.

You can also book a Mumbai taxi or Pune Taxi online.

Expanding its international coverage, Jet Airways is launching a Delhi to Toronto via Brussels flight (9W 226) starting 5th September, 2007. The flight will be a five times a week service. Passengers will also be able to take connections to New York (Newark Airport) from Jet Airways hub in Brussels. The Delhi Toronto flight has been carefully timed so as to offer easy connectivity to flights to New York.

Jet Airways will be flying a specially configured Airbus 330-200 aircraft on this sector. The plane has 30 seats in the Premiere class and 190 seats in the economy class. The premiere seats have a lie flat bed and offer the ultimate in luxury travel. All passengers will be able to enjoy Jet Screen, the in-flight video – audio entertainment programming on the flight.

The flight 9W 226 will depart in the night at 02.45 hrs from Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi and will reach Brussels at 08.00 hrs. It will then depart from Brussels at 09.55 hrs and arrive in Toronto International Airport, Canada at 12.15 hrs. The flight will operate from Delhi on all days except Tuesday and Thursday.

Flight 9W 225 will depart in the night at 20.15 hrs from Toronto International Airport and arrive at Brussels International Airport at 09.55 hrs. It will then depart from Brussels International Airport at 11.55 hrs and reach Indira Gandhi International Airpor, New Delhi at 23.35 hrs in the night.

As an inaugural offer Jet Airways is offering a Rs. 35,000/- (excluding taxes) return economy airfare on the Delhi Toronto sector. The Premiere Class return airfare on this sector is priced at an attractive Rs. 1,57,000/- (excluding taxes). To see more information on Jet Airways flights and to book a ticket go to the Jet Airways Online Booking page.