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Air India Express restarts flights to West Asia halted due to Iran war
Air India Express said the frequencies of flights to and from West Asia will increase in phases over the coming days.
Air India Express on Thursday announced the restoration of services to all its West Asia destinations — Salalah in Oman and Kuwait — that were halted due to the drone-missile exchange during the US-Iran war.
Flights on the Kozhikode–Salalah route resume from July 2, Air India Express said in a press release, adding that services between Kozhikode and Kuwait will resume from July 3, while flights between Karnataka's Bengaluru and Kuwait begin from July 4.
Frequencies will increase in phases over the coming days, the airline said.
The Kozhikode–Salalah service will operate twice every week, the budget carrier of Air India Group said and added that services between Kozhikode and Kuwait will initially operate once a week from July 3, increasing to three weekly flights from July 5.
Services from 2 Oman airports
With this resumption, Air India Express now operates from two airports in Oman: Muscat International Airport and Salalah International Airport.
Air India Express has also reinstated flights between Muscat and Karnataka's Mangaluru starting July 3, the press release stated. The airline operates about 40 weekly flights from Muscat to seven destinations in India.
Bengaluru–Kuwait services will operate once a week from July 4 and increase to three weekly flights from July 7.
The airline said its flights to and from Kuwait will operate from Terminal 4 at Kuwait International Airport, advising guests to book these flights on the its website, airindiaexpress.com, mobile app, and other major booking channels.
Airlines across the world restricted their services over West Asia after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 led to a full-scale war under which both sides exchanged drones as well as missiles.
In another development, Air India Express last month said bookings for its direct flights between the Navi Mumbai International Airport and United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi, starting July 15, are now open on the airline's website, mobile app, and other major channels.
The launch of the direct air services between the Navi Mumbai International Airport and Abu Dhabi will make Air India Express the first airline to operate international flights from Maharashtra's greenfield airport, it said.
