International passengers landing at Pune’s Lohegaon Airport can once again breeze through a dedicated ‘green channel’ after customs revived the lane on 5 January. The facility, suspended during terminal renovations last year, allows duty-free travellers to bypass routine baggage scans, cutting peak-hour queues that often stretched to 45 minutes.
International traffic at the tier-2 hub surged 65 % in 2025 on new nonstop links to Singapore, Dubai and Doha. Faster egress is expected to save corporate flyers roughly 20 minutes door-to-door, making same-day regional trips more feasible for Pune’s tech and automotive clusters.
![Pune Airport Restores Customs ‘Green Channel’, Halving Arrival Clearance Times]()
Customs officials retain the right to profile or randomly screen passengers amid a spate of gold-smuggling busts. Travellers must still declare dutiable items above INR 50,000 (about USD 600) in the red channel, and gold allowances remain capped at 40 g for women and 20 g for men after long trips abroad.
The Airports Authority of India will monitor passenger-flow metrics for three months before deciding whether to replicate the green channel at Nagpur or Jaipur—two other fast-growing secondary airports.
International traffic at the tier-2 hub surged 65 % in 2025 on new nonstop links to Singapore, Dubai and Doha. Faster egress is expected to save corporate flyers roughly 20 minutes door-to-door, making same-day regional trips more feasible for Pune’s tech and automotive clusters.
Customs officials retain the right to profile or randomly screen passengers amid a spate of gold-smuggling busts. Travellers must still declare dutiable items above INR 50,000 (about USD 600) in the red channel, and gold allowances remain capped at 40 g for women and 20 g for men after long trips abroad.
The Airports Authority of India will monitor passenger-flow metrics for three months before deciding whether to replicate the green channel at Nagpur or Jaipur—two other fast-growing secondary airports.
Source: VisaHQ Global Mobility News
