Air India Express flights depart early from Kozhikode airport

Sources with Air India Express said the airline had sent emails on Saturday night informing travellers about the rescheduling of flights to Doha (IX 373) and Sharjah (IX 351)

MALAPPURAM: Two Air India Express flights took off several hours prior to their scheduled departure time, leaving around 80 gulf-bound passengers stranded at the Kozhikode airport on Sunday.

However, passengers complained that many did not receive the email that was sent after 10pm. A passenger  received a message on her phone at 11 am on Sunday, informing that the flight’s departure time was rescheduled to 7:30 am..

The Doha flight departed 5 hours and 25 minutes and the Sharjah flight 3 hours and 35 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time. The IX 373 flight was scheduled to take off from Kozhikode at 12.05pm. However, it left for Doha at 6.40am.

The flight to Sharjah was scheduled to depart from Kozhikode at 11.05am, but it took off at 7.30am. The passengers had heated arguments with the airline staff to reschedule their journey without additional cost.