Air India Express cancellations continue to disrupt Gulf operations from Kerala airports

Flight disruptions on key Gulf routes continued across Kerala’s international airports despite a recent agreement between Air India Express management and its employees, highlighting the challenges involved in restoring normal operations after widespread network disruptions.

According to reporting by Newsonair, services to several destinations in the Gulf region remained affected from Kerala’s four international airports, with multiple cancellations recorded even after the airline and employee representatives reached a settlement intended to stabilise operations.

The continued disruption comes at a time when Gulf routes remain among the busiest international sectors for Kerala, serving large expatriate communities and supporting significant business and family travel demand.

Multiple Gulf routes remain affected

The impact was visible across airports in Kochi, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, with services to major Gulf destinations either cancelled or operating on a reduced schedule.

At Cochin International Airport, Air India Express cancelled morning departures to:

• Dammam
• Muscat

However, scheduled services to:

• Dubai
• Doha
• Abu Dhabi

continued to operate.

The uneven recovery suggests that while some sectors have resumed, network-wide normalisation remains a work in progress.

Kannur records the highest number of cancellations

Among Kerala’s airports, Kannur International Airport experienced the largest concentration of cancellations.

According to Newsonair, the following services were cancelled:

• Sharjah
• Muscat
• Dammam
• Dubai
• Riyadh
• Abu Dhabi

The airport was expected to operate evening flights to Sharjah and Dubai, offering partial restoration of connectivity on two of its most important Gulf routes.

The scale of cancellations at Kannur underscores the operational strain still affecting portions of the airline’s international schedule.

Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode also impacted

Disruptions extended to southern and northern Kerala as well.