On the first day of closure on Tuesday, bus operators in Pune and Mumbai received several enquiries for Volvo buses and cars plying on the busy route. “Tuesday saw a 25 per cent rise in the number of passengers. We’re expecting the rush to increase in the weekend,” said Harsh Kotak, a member of the Maharashtra Rajya Bus, Truck, Tempo and Tankers Vahatuk Mahasangh.

Most road transport operators offer 50 trips between the two cities apart from vehicles on hire. Rohit Pardeshi, managing director of Metro Link, said, “We’re expecting more passengers on the Pune-Mumbai route, especially during the weekend. We’ve sufficient number of buses and if need be we will add more trips to our services.” He said there were many bookings from Pune to Mumbai airport on Tuesday itself.

Dilip Sanghvi of Neeta Travels said they would be meeting Pune airport director Deepak Shastri on Wednesday to offer their buses to cope with the demand.

According to Sanghvi, demand for vehicles on hire has been increasing because of corporate employees. “Apart from the demand for cars like Innovas and Taveras, some people have approached us for smaller cars to ferry them to Mumbai,” he said.

With a total of 35 flights, both domestic and international, operated from the Pune airport, some airline companies have arranged alternative services for passengers. A senior Jet Airways official said that airline had arranged for two bus trips a day from Mumbai and Pune till the airport is likely to remain shut.

Air India will be re-routing its flights through Mumbai.

On the other hand, Air Deccan that operates four flights from the Pune airport has not arranged for any bus or taxi service but had informed its passengers “well in advance”.

“We’ve not planned any taxi service; but our airport office will continue to work and we will assist the passengers regarding alternative arrangements. We have refunded the money of the passengers who had booked during the period,” said Aparna Bindal, senior executive, corporate communication, Air Deccan.