Kannur International Airport Flight Cuts May Impact Passengers From Kodagu

This image uses an original photograph of Kannur International Airport, enhanced with AI-generated design elements for illustrative purposes.

Kannur(Keralam): Flight connectivity from Kannur International Airport, the nearest international airport for many residents of Kodagu district, is set to undergo changes from July as airlines revise their schedules in response to rising operational costs and ongoing geopolitical tensions.

The continuing conflict in West Asia and the consequent surge in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices have led several Indian carriers, including Air India Express and IndiGo, to rationalise operations across their networks. The impact of these measures is now being felt at Kannur airport, located about 67 km from Virajpet and widely used by travellers from Madikeri, Gonikoppal, Virajpet and Kushalnagar.

As part of the revised schedule, IndiGo's direct service between Kannur and Delhi will be scaled down from a daily operation to three flights a week beginning in July.

The airline has also reduced services on the Kannur-Bengaluru sector. While two flights currently operate daily between the two cities, one of the services was withdrawn from June 15, leaving only a single daily flight on the route.

Despite the reduction in domestic services, international connectivity from Kannur is expected to improve. IndiGo is scheduled to launch a daily service to Fujairah from June 25, providing passengers with an additional overseas travel option.

Meanwhile, Air India Express is set to restore some services that were suspended recently. The airline's Bengaluru route, which was discontinued on June 1, is expected to resume from June 23 with two flights a week.

Passenger traffic at Kannur airport had witnessed a sharp decline following the outbreak of the conflict, with footfall dropping to just 5,329 passengers in March. However, traffic has since shown signs of recovery. Passenger numbers rose to around 45,000 in April and further increased to 87,259 in May, indicating a gradual return in travel demand despite ongoing challenges facing the aviation sector.

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