Air India flight cuts unlikely to affect Vijayawada operations

Vijayawada: Although Air India has announced the cancellation of 22% of its domestic flight schedules between June and August owing to operational constraints, including rising operating costs, flight operations at Vijayawada International Airport are unlikely to be affected, as the airline has not withdrawn any of its services operating from the region.Airport authorities confirmed that they have not received any official communication from Air India regarding the cancellation of flights operating from Vijayawada airport. Officials stated that the revised flight cancellation schedule released by Air India for both domestic and international sectors does not include any services connected to Vijayawada.“The airport authority has not received any communication from Air India regarding the cancellation of its domestic flight operations from Vijayawada airport. Moreover, the list of cancelled domestic and international flights released by the airline does not mention any Vijayawada services,” an official attached to the office of the airport director at Vijayawada International Airport said. The official further clarified that all Air India-operated flights from Vijayawada continue to function as scheduled.Currently, Air India operates direct flight services from Vijayawada to Delhi and Mumbai from Gannavaram Airport. In addition, Air India Express operates direct domestic services connecting Vijayawada with Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.However, the Vijayawada–Sharjah international service operated by Air India Express remains temporarily suspended due to the prevailing geopolitical tensions arising out of the ongoing US-Iran conflict, officials said.Despite the nationwide rationalisation of flight schedules announced by Air India, passengers travelling from Vijayawada are not expected to face disruptions in domestic connectivity at present.