Air India Express has announced the reinstatement of its flight operations to Qatar and Bahrain, alongside an expansion of services to major destinations in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The new schedule comes into effect from today (April 30, 2026).
The airline said it has resumed flights from a wide network of Indian cities, covering both major metros and regional gateways. These include Amritsar, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Tiruchirappalli, Thiruvananthapuram and Varanasi.
Revised schedule
As part of its Gulf network, Air India Express will continue to operate services to Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah in the UAE, as well as Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Muscat in Oman.
The reinstatement of routes to Qatar and Bahrain, along with increased connectivity to other Gulf destinations, is expected to strengthen travel links between India and the Middle East, catering to both business and leisure passengers as well as the large Indian diaspora in the region.
The airline will operate to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Al Ain, with connections from multiple Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur, Mangaluru, Lucknow, Jaipur, Amritsar, Varanasi and Tiruchirappalli. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have the widest spread of routes.Beyond the UAE, the airline will operate to Muscat in Oman with links from Delhi, Mumbai, Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram, and to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam with services largely from southern cities such as Kozhikode, Kochi, Mangaluru, Kannur, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Bahrain will be connected to Kannur and Kozhikode, while Doha in Qatar will have services from Kochi and Kozhikode. No operating sectors have been listed for Kuwait in the current schedule.
Services from Doha
Meanwhile, India’s leading airlines are set to restore full-scale operations at Hamad International Airport from May 1, which is a key step towards the normalisation of regional air connectivity.
The resumption comes two months after a joint US-Israeli military offensive on February 28 targeting Iranian leadership and nuclear facilities, which escalated into a wider regional conflict.
Three major Indian carriers — Air India, Air India Express and IndiGo — are expected to spearhead the restart, reconnecting Doha with several major Indian metros as well as key regional hubs.
“Indian carriers plan to resume operations at Hamad International Airport, Doha, as flight operations continue to expand. Air India, Air India Express and IndiGo plan to resume their flight services between Doha and various destinations in India starting May 1, 2026,” the Embassy of India in Doha said in a post on X.