Surat: There is some disturbing news for the international travellers in the diamond city of Surat. International connectivity at Surat airport is set to suffer another setback. Air India Express has stopped bookings for flights on the Surat-Bangkok sector from July 1, 2026.
The airline stated that the decision was taken as the route was not profitable. Following this decision, a feeling of anger has spread among the passengers. It is worth mentioning here that a total of 5 international flights were operated from Surat airport, out of which three have been stopped.
The Surat-Bangkok flight used to depart from Surat four days a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 10.50 am and reach Bangkok at 5.10 pm. Now, with the closure of bookings, flights on this route will be completely stopped from July. During the winter schedule, a total of five international flights were operated from here, which included flights to Bangkok, Dubai and Sharjah.
The number of flights in the summer schedule, which was implemented from March 29 to October 24, was reduced to three, two to Dubai and one to Bangkok. However, following the decision to cancel Bangkok flights, only two international flights will now operate from Surat International Airport from July.
Earlier, Sharjah flights were also completely cancelled from March 29, while an additional light flight from Dubai was also removed from the schedule. This has also drawn resentment among the locals.
Sanjay Jain of We Work for Working Airports at Surat Group said that after Tata Group’s took over Air India, domestic and international flights were gradually reduced. Routes to Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa and Sharjah have been closed and frequencies to Bengaluru and Dubai have been reduced. Passengers are becoming the victims of this constant change. Experts believe that if this situation continues, Surat’s international connectivity may deteriorate further.
The treatment that is being given to the country’s ninth largest city in terms of air services, even by calling it “ignorance”, is not enough; this is a clear injustice. Recently, Air India has announced plans to start a new flight between Delhi-Ludhiana from May 15, 2026, which will use Airbus A320 aircraft. The question is straightforward: why is Surat, which is among the top 10 cities in the country, still not on their priority list? Isn’t Surat a part of India?
Interestingly, a city like Ludhiana, whose population is only around 20-25 lakhs, is getting new flights, while a megacity like Surat with a population of around 90 lakhs is still being ignored. So does Air India have the illusion that a city of 25 lakhs is more profitable than a city of 90 lakhs? Or is there no logic in these decisions?
The reality is that a few years ago, Air India completely sidelined Surat and handed over all its flights to its subsidiary Air India Express. This move clearly indicates that Surat is considered a “budget class city”. Today, the situation is such that Air India Express operates limited flights from Surat only to Delhi and Bengaluru, which is also negligible compared to the actual needs of the city.
On the other hand, the country’s largest airline IndiGo is operating the most flights from Surat and many of its flights are flying with 90 percent load. Surat airport records an average of 85 percent occupancy every month, the figures are screaming that there is demand, there are passengers, and there are opportunities for development. Then the question becomes more serious, what is the grudge of Air India or its management towards Surat, which provides such strong and continuous traffic?
When both Air India and Air India Express flights operate simultaneously in many cities of the country, why is this model not applicable for Surat? Air India also provides regular services to cities smaller than Surat, so what does the name Surat evoke? Isn’t this a policy of open discrimination? Surat is today one of the fastest growing cities in the country. From diamond and textile industries to international trade, Surat’s importance is increasing day by day. Yet the city is being pushed back in terms of air connectivity, which is now beyond its capacity to bear.
Unless a strong stance is taken against airlines, Surat will never get its rightful place. Big claims of development will be meaningful only when the city gets its necessary facilities, otherwise all these will remain just empty words.
