Air India Express restores Kuwait and Salalah flights, expands West Asia network
PTC Web Desk: Air India Express on Thursday announced the phased restoration of its services to Kuwait and Salalah, strengthening its network across West Asia with the resumption of flights from Kozhikode and Bengaluru this week.
The airline resumed operations on the Kozhikode–Salalah route from July 2, introducing two weekly flights every Tuesday and Thursday. With Salalah back on its network, Air India Express now serves two destinations in Oman — Muscat International Airport and Salalah International Airport.
Services between Kozhikode and Kuwait are scheduled to restart on July 3. Initially, the route will operate once a week on Fridays before expanding to three weekly flights from July 5 with departures on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The Bengaluru–Kuwait route will resume from July 4 with a weekly Friday service. Beginning July 7, the airline will increase operations on the route to three flights a week, operating every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday.
In addition, the carrier has reinstated its Muscat–Mangaluru service from July 3. Air India Express currently operates around 40 weekly flights from Muscat to seven destinations across India.
The airline said all Kuwait-bound and arriving services will operate from Terminal 4 at Kuwait International Airport.
Under the revised schedule, flights from Kozhikode to Salalah will depart at 11 am and arrive at 1.05 pm local time. The return flight will leave Salalah at 2.15 pm and land in Kozhikode at 7.45 pm.
The weekly Kozhikode–Kuwait service operating on Fridays will depart at 7.30 am and reach Kuwait at 10.05 am. The return service will leave Kuwait at 11.05 am and arrive in Kozhikode at 6.50 pm.
From July 5, when the frequency on the Kozhikode–Kuwait route increases, flights will depart Kozhikode at 2.15 am and arrive in Kuwait at 4.50 am. The return flight will take off from Kuwait at 5.50 am and land in Kozhikode at 1.35 pm.
Flights between Bengaluru and Kuwait will depart Bengaluru at 2.25 am, reaching Kuwait at 4.50 am. The return service will leave Kuwait at 5.50 am and arrive in Bengaluru at 1.25 pm.
Air India Express currently connects India with 13 destinations across Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The airline operates nearly 780 weekly flights between India and West Asia, offering direct connectivity from 18 Indian cities.
The carrier has also been expanding its domestic and international network in recent weeks with the launch of new routes linking Navi Mumbai with Abu Dhabi, Guwahati with Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Bengaluru with Phuket, and Pune with Amritsar.
Following these additions, Air India Express will now operate around 415 weekly flights from Bengaluru, connecting the city to 30 domestic destinations and seven international destinations.
From Kozhikode, the airline currently operates approximately 85 weekly flights, providing connectivity to 13 destinations across West Asia as well as Bengaluru.
- With inputs from agencies
