Bengaluru: After IndiGo and Akasa Air, Air India Express launched a direct flight to Phuket, Thailand, from Bengaluru on Monday. The new service operates on a weekend-centric schedule, deploying a Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft. The flight departs from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at 10:35 AM on Mondays and Saturdays, arriving in Phuket at 3:50 PM. On Fridays, the takeoff is at 11:25 AM, and on Sundays at 11:15 AM, with a one-way journey time of 3 hours and 45 minutes.
This marks Air India Express's second destination in Thailand, following its daily Bengaluru-Bangkok service introduced in October last year.
Pune Flight Cancelled
In a separate incident, the cancellation of an Air India Express flight to Pune on Monday morning forced several passengers to alter their travel plans. Flight AI 9806, scheduled to depart Bengaluru at 5:35 PM and arrive in Pune at 7:20 PM, was cancelled. The disruption was compounded because the flight served as a connecting service for passengers traveling from various parts of the country to Pune.
Many passengers reported that Bengaluru was a transit point in their journey from their origin cities to Pune. Some had already reached their departure airports before the cancellation was announced. Shipra Singh, a passenger traveling from Kochi to Pune, posted on X: “Passengers are currently left waiting at the airport with limited information on alternate arrangements and timelines.”
The airline later clarified that the cancellation was due to operational reasons. Affected passengers were offered a refund for the impacted sector or a one-time flight change within seven days.
