Hadapsar Airport is a gliderdrome situated at

Hadapsar Hadapsar is a developed town in eastern Pune City, Maharashtra. After 1990, Hadapsar developed into a major industrial area and is now one of the most densely populated and developed areas of Pune District. It is well connected to all parts of ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

. It is owned by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and used by the Gliding Centre of the DGCA. The gliderdrome is spread over 230 acres It consists of a one-km-long unpaved airstrip, a couple of hangars housing the

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of gliding ...

s used for daily flying exercises and an administrative block.

History

In 2011, Government-owned helicopter service company

Pawan Hans Pawan Hans Limited is a central public sector undertaking based at Noida in Delhi NCR, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It has cumulatively flown more than 1 million hours and has had ...

(PHL) was assigned the task to develop a Helicopter Training Academy cum

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

at Hadapsar. The project was approved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA released Rs.10 crore for the purpose. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed with the DGCA for the utilisation of land and other infrastructural facilities. However, in 2017, the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

approved the privatization of Pawan Hans following which PHL formally backed out of the project in 2019, stating that it does not want to continue any business association with respect to such facility. The Gliding Centre was a brainchild of former Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

to train youngsters for glider pilot licenses. It is the country's only operational facility of its kind under the DGCA. The centre carries out about 3,000 flights a year, the majority of them on Sundays when the club is open to enthusiasts from the city. The Gliding Centre operates a fleet of LET L-23 Super Blanik

Sailplanes A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

. The flying season starts from October and continues up to May or early June. The airfield is not operational during the monsoon.

References

{{authority control Transport in Pune Airports in Pune district Gliderports Year of establishment missing