Closure of airspaces: Passengers endure long ordeal at Kochi airport in Kerala amid flight disruptions

Mano Susan was supposed to be at the Doha airport in Qatar on Tuesday (June 24, 2025) morning, from where she was scheduled to take the connection flight to reach the Heathrow airport in London with her husband by the afternoon.

Instead, Ms. Susan, 52, from Kakkanad, Kochi, continues to languish in the security check-in area of the Kochi airport in Kerala. She had reached the airport with four other friends on Monday midnight. Their Qatar Airways flight from Doha was originally scheduled to reach the Kochi airport on Tuesday at 2.50 a.m. and return to Doha at 4.15 a.m. However, it is yet to reach the Kochi airport after Qatar temporarily closed its airspace on Monday night following the escalating tensions in the West Asia.

Though the airspace had since been opened, the flight schedules remain disrupted.

“We are now being told that the flight will take off for Doha around 2.30 p.m., by which time we would have been at the airport for over 14 hours. Since we have already been checked in, we cannot leave the security area either. None has even bothered to serve us even a cup of tea till now despite being put through this ordeal,” said Ms. Susan.

The group of five friends has set out on a fortnight-long tour of the UK, Ireland, and Scotland, and the disruption could not have come at a worse time.

“Our experience explains how the impact of a war is not just confined to the players involved, but affects millions around the world who have nothing to do with it. We have planned this trip more than a year in advance, arranged our leaves, and made bookings in the UK. Even if the trip gets delayed by even a day, it will throw a spanner in the entire itinerary,” said Manoj Kumar, a private company employee.

17 services cancelled

As of Tuesday morning, 17 services to and from the Kochi airport stand cancelled. This includes services to Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Ras al-Khaimah, Bahrain, Dammam, and Kuwait.

In an advisory issued, the airport has asked the passengers to stay updated through SMS/email alerts by the airlines concerned and to check flight status regularly via the airlines’ official website or the airport displays.