Air India Express is one of eight passenger airlines to operate between India and Dubai. It is third by the number of April-June 2023 flights, according to Cirium data, with only Emirates and IndiGo ranking higher. Air India Express will soon end Delhi-Dubai and Mumbai-Dubai, with the core routes to be continued to be served by Air India. The Star Alliance member's lower-cost unit, Air India Express, will introduce 'Old' Goa and Indore, replacing Air India.
Air India Express adds two Dubai routes
Starting on March 26th from Dubai, Air India Express will begin the 1,375-mile (2,213 km) link to Goa Dabolim; it will run four weekly. Air India has long served the market, but its last service will be on March 25th. On March 30th, Air India Express will begin a weekly flight to Indore, a few days after Air India ends it. Indore has only had non-stops from Dubai since 2019.
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Air India Express's 11 Dubai routes
Air India Express's Dubai network is as follows, based on the week starting May 1st. You will see that five routes have increased frequencies versus what was previously planned. For a fuller picture, I have included direct competitors in that week.
Note: generally, 14 weekly means double daily and seven weekly daily, but Trichy and Trivandrum aren't daily – some days have two fights, others none.
Destination | Air India Express weekly flights starting May 1st | Head-to-head competition (weekly non-stop flights) | Comments | Find flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kozhikode | 14 weekly (up from 12) | IndiGo (7), SpiceJet (7), flydubai (3) | Air India ends it on March 25th | |
Mangaluru | 14 (up from 12) | IndiGo (7) | ||
Amritsar | 7 | SpiceJet (7) | ||
Kochi | 7 | Emirates (14), Air India (7), IndiGo (7), SpiceJet (7), flydubai (3) | Air India continues to serve the route | |
Kannur | 7 (up from 3) | Go First (7) | ||
Lucknow | 7 | IndiGo (7), flydubai (3) | ||
Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) | 7 (note comment above) | None | It appears that IndiGo will end the route as it doesn't seem to be bookable after March | |
Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) | 7 (note comment above; up from 3) | Emirates (7) | ||
Jaipur | 5 (up from 3) | SpiceJet (5) | ||
Goa Dabolim | 4 (new) | None | Air India ends it on March 25th | |
Indore | 1 (new) | None | Air India ends it on March 25th |
What does a day look like?
On May 1st, for example, Air India Express has 12 Dubai departures. They're organized as follows. It is a day when Goa and Indore aren't served:
- 02:25: IX814, Mangaluru
- 04:05: IX612, Trichy
- 07:00: IX544, Trivandrum
- 08:50: IX192, Amritsar
- 09:00: IX194, Lucknow
- 12:50: IX346, Kozhikode
- 13:05: IX384, Mangaluru
- 17:35: IX434, Kochi
- 18:05: IX196, Jaipur
- 19:55: IX748, Kannur
- 21:50: IX344, Kozhikode
- 23:40: IX540, Trivandrum
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.