Domestic flight services connecting various cities from airports in Kerala have been facing some strong headwinds in recent times, with unexpected cancellations unsettling some popular services that connect metro and tier two and three cities.
It is expected that the strain on the domestic flight services will be more in the coming winter schedule as well. For instance, the Thiruvananthapuram airport witnessed the cancellation of some popular services, including the services to Chennai, Mumbai, and Bengaluru in recent times, operated by airlines like IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express.
A new flight service launched from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Ahmedabad in Gujarat by IndiGo Airlines, operating four days a week, was cancelled despite having a good load factor. Later, after the request by the airport authorities, the service has been reinstated this week. The Cochin-Agathi service operated by IndiGo from Kozhikode was recently stopped. According to sources at the airport, the service was stopped by the airline, citing aircraft shortage. However, the airline has recently reinstated the service after the request from the airport operator.
The SpiceJet services from Cochin International Airport were also disrupted recently, apart from services like Cochin-Agathi. The winter schedule of the Kannur International Airport is likely to witness the cancellation of a couple of domestic flights, according to airline sources. The strain on the domestic flight services was visible from the category of the number of passengers handled by the Thiruvananthapuram airport. In the past, the airports in Kerala used to handle more international passengers than domestic flyers.
However, in recent times, the domestic flyers have outnumbered the international passengers from the airports in Kerala, except Kozhikode, where international passengers hold sway. In 2024, Thiruvananthapuram airport recorded a footfall of over 49.1 lakh passengers, with 26.4 lakh travelling on domestic routes and 22.7 lakh on international routes, against 22 lakh domestic travellers and 19 lakh international passengers in 2023. However, when the August figures were released the other day, the trend reversed, with 2.25 lakh international passengers and 1.9 domestic passengers.
According to sources, the drop in domestic flight services has affected the performance of the domestic sector. The airlines have been citing different reasons, including the shortage of aircraft and the grounding of aircraft due to various reasons. Additionally, the relatively higher margin of airline yield in popular trunk routes has also prompted airlines to give more focus to services between metro cities, said a senior airline officer.
Published – September 22, 2025 08:47 pm IST
