Gulf flights from Calicut airport cancelled

All flights from Calicut International Airport to Persian Gulf destinations were canceled on Saturday afternoon following rising tensions in the region due to the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran.

Flights of Air India Express, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Oman Air were among those canceled.

Hundreds of passengers preparing to fly to Gulf countries were stunned when Gulf countries closed their airspace following Iran’s retaliation against American targets in the Gulf.

Airport sources said the cancellation of flights to destinations such as Kuwait, Dubai, Doha, Bahrain and Riyadh was part of an overall decision to spare passengers and airlines from being embroiled in tensions.

Many flights from West Asia were also delayed. These included Air India Express IX374 from Bahrain. There were also delays in flights from Dubai and Jeddah.

Among those canceled were Air India Express IX346’s 2.40pm departure to Dubai, as well as IndiGo services to Dubai, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi.

Calicut International Airport operates 126 flights daily to eight countries on 22 routes. Saturday’s schedule listed only 22 departures and nine arrivals; Gulf routes bore the brunt of the cancellations.