Pune Airport was originally an Airforce base. It now caters to civilian passengers also. Hence, the restriction in the airport on taking Photos.
Civilian or military matters not. An airport should have a good lounge.
Pune Airport has one lounge called the “Earth Lounge and Bar”.
Location
It is on the 1st floor besides Gate number 7.
Access
The Lounge has multiple Access partners.
You may use the GUI from here to check if your card provides access to “Earth” Lounge.
The following card issuers provide access to it
SBI, ICICI, Au Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDFC First, Indusind, Yes bank, HDFC & Axis (premium cards only), there maybe more.
Recently, most card issuers have cut down on the complimentary lounge access to tier-2 city airports for their semi-premium credit cards.
Notable semi-premium cards which do not provide complimentary Access here are
HDFC Millennia (Visa and Master)
Axis My Zone, Ace, Flipkart, Airtel etc
Citi Premiermiles
Amex Platinum Travel
My SBI Platinum Debit card also failed
Ambience
It has one large room connected to a smaller room. It has ample capacity with many sofas and sitting areas. There are no windows.
The photos may look good, but it really could be cleaner. The toilet was “Under Maintenance” too.
I was there early morning and it was relatively empty. However, by 6 am when I left, it did start to fill up. I imagine it must be full throughout the day.
The Lightening was dull and it reminded me of a bar setting. Not a posh one.
Yes, it did have a Bar. And if you are in the mood to travel with a buzz, the rates are low too. Since it was morning, it was closed.
Food
The worst time to be in a lounge is in the early hours before the breakfast is setup.
The buffet menu is not something you would want in the morning. And somehow you are unsure as to when the buffet was setup.
The food was not really appetizing to look at. But was good taste wise.
They did have Masala Chai instead of the Dip tea. Good Tea gets me in a good mood.
Innovatively, instead of slice Bread they had Pav. Mumbai and Pune has many things which are replicated successfully throughout India, except the humble pav. It is very rare to find a soft Pav outside these two cities.
Conclusion
Lounges are supposed to give the feeling of posh. Be spic and span with great food.
Earth Lounge is not the cleanest lounge, surprisingly even the Pune airport is not clean.
A stark contrast to the Mumbai Airport Lounge which is a marvel with an astounding viewing gallery to the air planes.
Simply put, if you consider Pune to be a Tier-1 city, you will be disappointed by their “Earth Lounge and Bar”. If you consider Pune to be a Tier-2 city, the lounge is okayish.