Kochi: A majority of flights scheduled to the Gulf regions remain cancelled from four international airports in Kerala following the conflict in West Asia on Sunday.
Though authorities had issued an advisory asking passengers to check flight status before arriving at the airport, several travellers waited at airports across the state expecting services to resume.
As many as 37 international flights scheduled to depart from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Limited (TIAL) to various Gulf countries have been cancelled since Saturday afternoon.
The airport operator, CIAL, has urged passengers “to verify flight status with their respective airlines before proceeding to the airport.”
At Kozhikode airport, all services to Gulf countries remained suspended from noon, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. These included three IndiGo flights and four Air India Express services.
Services connecting Qatar were also suspended, as were the Gulf services operated from Karipur by Salalah Air.
Elsewhere in Kannur, four flights were cancelled. Among the affected services were IndiGo outbound flights to Doha and Fujairah. In addition, inbound flights from Abu Dhabi (IndiGo) and Dubai (Air India Express) were also called off.
Disruptions are likely to continue on Sunday as well, with IndiGo services from Fujairah and Abu Dhabi among the ones suspended.
At Thiruvananthapuram airport, eight flights were cancelled. These included three Air India Express flights and one incoming service of Etihad Airways.
Several services remain cancelled on Sunday as well, including Air India Express’ incoming services from Doha and Dubai, and one Thiruvananthapuram-bound service of Emirates and Etihad Airways.
“The air network has been shut down in all of the Middle East, and hence, all flights stand cancelled. Nothing more can be said before any major intervention or official communication from there,” a top airport official said.
The largest operator from India to the Gulf region, Air India Express, with an average of 110 flights daily, said cancellations are likely to continue on Sunday. “The airline is adopting a wait-and-watch approach as of now,” an official said.
For change and cancellation waivers on impacted Air India Express flights, guests may visit the ‘Manage Booking’ section on our website or chat with Tia on WhatsApp at +91 6360012345.
Meanwhile, an Air India official said, “It is a dynamic, evolving situation. We cannot say anything about Sunday operations as of now.” This airline too has urged affected passengers to contact their 24×7 helpline number: +91 1169329333 or +91 1169329999.
Indigo maintained that “the safety and security of our passengers and crew is our highest priority,” and added that their team is continuously monitoring the situation and calibrating the operations “to minimise disruption as much as possible.”
SpiceJet, which operates flights from several airports in Kerala, has also cancelled its flights.
Nine Gulf-bound flights and 10 incoming flights remain cancelled on Sunday at Kochi airport. All Gulf-bound flights from Kannur and Calicut airports have also been cancelled.
