Domestic flights operating from Kerala’s airports are currently navigating a turbulent period, marked by frequent and unexpected cancellations. These disruptions are particularly unsettling for popular routes connecting major metropolitan areas with India’s bustling tier-two and tier-three cities.
Experts anticipate that this pressure on domestic flight services will intensify further during the upcoming winter schedule. Recently, Thiruvananthapuram airport alone experienced numerous cancellations on key routes to Chennai, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, affecting services from major carriers such as IndiGo, Air India, and Air India Express.
Even newly introduced services are not immune to these issues. For example, IndiGo Airlines’ four-day-a-week flight from Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was initially canceled despite strong passenger numbers. Fortunately, the service was reinstated this week following intervention from airport authorities. Similarly, IndiGo’s Cochin-Agatti route from Kozhikode was halted due to reported aircraft shortages but has since resumed operations after the airport operator’s request.
SpiceJet services from Cochin International Airport have also seen recent disruptions, in addition to the previously mentioned Cochin-Agatti route. Airline sources suggest that Kannur International Airport’s winter schedule might also face several domestic flight cancellations. The impact of these strains is evident in passenger statistics from Thiruvananthapuram airport. Historically, Kerala’s airports typically served more international travelers than domestic ones.
Lately, this trend has shifted dramatically, with domestic flyers surpassing international numbers at most Kerala airports, except Kozhikode. In 2024, Thiruvananthapuram airport handled over 4.91 million passengers, including 2.64 million domestic and 2.27 million international travelers. This was a significant increase from 2023, which saw 2.2 million domestic and 1.9 million international passengers. However, August figures revealed a temporary reversal, with international passengers (2.25 lakh) again outnumbering domestic travelers (1.9 lakh).
Sources indicate that this downturn in domestic flight services has negatively impacted the overall performance of the domestic aviation sector. Airlines frequently attribute these issues to factors like aircraft shortages and the grounding of planes for various reasons. A senior airline official also pointed out that the higher profit margins on busy ‘trunk routes’ between major metro cities incentivize airlines to prioritize these services, potentially at the expense of other domestic connections.