Sri Vijaya Puram, July 29: Air travellers to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were once again left stranded and uncertain on july 28 after an Air India Express flight from Bengaluru to Sri Vijaya Puram was diverted to Kolkata, marking the second disruption involving the airline’s services to the islands in just over two weeks.
The latest incident left passengers, many of whom were expecting to arrive in Sri Vijaya Puram by mid-afternoon, instead landing hundreds of kilometres away in Kolkata without any immediate clarity on when they would be able to resume their journey.
Flight IX2648, operating the scheduled Bengaluru–Sri Vijaya Puram service, departed Bengaluru’s Terminal 2 at 11:51 am, slightly ahead of schedule. The flight was expected to land at Veer Savarkar International Airport at 2:40 pm after a journey of about two hours and forty minutes.
Instead, the aircraft diverted to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, where it landed at around 4:25 pm, according to flight tracking data.
As of the time of publication, Air India Express had not issued any official statement explaining why the aircraft was diverted. The airline had also not informed passengers publicly about when the flight would continue to Sri Vijaya Puram, leaving many travellers in limbo.
The service, which also operates under codeshare flight number AI9942, is one of the important links connecting Bengaluru with the islands. Flight records show that the same service operated normally just a day earlier, reaching Sri Vijaya Puram ahead of schedule.
The incident comes close on the heels of another disruption involving Air India Express.
On July 13, flight IX2782 from Kolkata to Sri Vijaya Puram was forced to divert to Bhubaneswar after adverse weather prevented landing at Veer Savarkar International Airport. While the airline had attributed that diversion to poor weather conditions, no explanation had been offered for Tuesday’s operational change, making the circumstances behind the latest diversion unclear.
For residents of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, such disruptions carry consequences far beyond ordinary travel inconvenience.
Unlike mainland cities that are connected by extensive rail and road networks, the islands depend almost entirely on scheduled commercial flights for passenger movement. Thousands of islanders travel regularly for medical treatment, higher education, employment, business and government work, while tourists form another significant segment of passengers.
Every major disruption therefore has a cascading impact, affecting hotel bookings, onward travel, medical appointments, official engagements and family emergencies.
Passengers have repeatedly pointed out that while diversions due to bad weather may at times be unavoidable, timely communication from airlines is equally important. Clear information on the reason for a diversion, expected departure timings and passenger assistance can significantly reduce uncertainty during such situations.
The latest diversion is also likely to revive broader questions over the reliability of air connectivity to the islands. With only a limited number of daily commercial flights connecting the Union Territory to the mainland, operational disruptions can quickly lead to inconvenience for hundreds of passengers and delays that ripple through subsequent flight schedules.
Although the reasons behind Tuesday’s diversion remain unknown, the fact that it is the second Air India Express diversion involving the Andaman route within just over two weeks has once again highlighted the vulnerability of the islands’ air connectivity.
For passengers who boarded the Bengaluru flight expecting to reach home or begin their visit to the islands on Tuesday afternoon, the journey instead ended unexpectedly in Kolkata—underscoring once again how fragile the Andamans’ lifeline to the mainland can become when flights are disrupted.
