Air India Express strike: 1200 passengers return home from Karipur due to flight disruptions

Kozhikode: As Air India Express continues to cancel more flights from the Kozhikode International Airport, around 1200 passengers, including pilgrims, had to abandon their plans. This morning, only the flights to Kuwait and Dubai were confirmed. Meanwhile, three other flights were cancelled. Air India Express authorities informed us that five flights have been cancelled from Karipur today. While new reports on Air India planning to conduct services in Air India Express routes are coming in, there is no clarity yet on flights from Karipur.

Two flights that were scheduled to depart from Karipur were cancelled on Tuesday night. Besides, around 20 services that were supposed to arrive here were affected. Those who were getting ready for the flight after receiving the boarding pass as well as the passengers who came to the airport without knowing that their flights had been cancelled were left in the lurch. The abrupt cancellation of the flights had put the pilgrims for Umrah and those who were supposed to report for work within the stipulated time on the spot. Besides the flights to Dammam and Dubai that were cancelled on Tuesday night, the services to Ras Al Khaima, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Doha and Bahrain between 8 am and 10 am, as well as the flight to Muscat at 11.10 pm were cancelled on May 8. The return trips of these flights too have been affected by the cancellations.

Pilgrims disappointed
Most passengers who were supposed to fly in the Jeddah flight at 8.50 am on May 8 were pilgrims to Mecca. The pilgrims complained that they were informed about the cancellation only after they had reached the airport early in the morning. Kasargod native Subair Darimi who was part of the 40-member Umrah pilgrimage group said that he had faced difficulties as arrangements had already been made for their accommodation and return trip. Pilgrims from various districts had reached the airport to be part of the group. Subair said that the organisers had to reschedule their journey in Indigo and Spice Jet in the next three days. The Umrah agency representatives too said that the flight cancellations had caused them severe financial losses.