Muscat: On Thursday, May 9, 2024, hundreds of residents from the Sultanate of Oman found themselves stranded in the Republic of India due to the cancellation of all five Air India Express flights to Muscat. Travel agents confirmed that the flights affected were Mumbai-Muscat, Calicut-Muscat, Kannur-Muscat, Mangalore-Muscat, and Thiruvananthapuram-Muscat. This cancellation was a result of a cabin crew strike that began on Tuesday evening.
According to officials, Air India Express had to cancel a total of 85 flights on Thursday due to the termination of a section of the cabin crew. The previous day, nearly 300 employees of the airline called in sick and turned off their phones.
The cancelled flights included both domestic Indian routes and international routes, including those to Muscat.
As a subsidiary of Air India, which is now owned by the Tata group, the low-cost airline expressed its commitment to minimizing the inconvenience caused to passengers during this unexpected situation.
In response to the mass sick leave taken by 30 cabin crew members without prior notice, Air India Express, owned by the Tata Group, terminated their services. This led to the cancellation of over 100 flights since Tuesday night, affecting approximately 15,000 passengers.
The airline also announced that on Thursday, it would be operating 292 flights, with Air India operating on 20 of Air India Express routes.
