Surat Airport Loses Last Overseas Link as Air India Express Cancels Bangkok Service

Surat—India’s diamond-trading hub and one of the country’s fastest-growing secondary cities—no longer has any international flights after Air India Express axed its four-times-weekly Surat–Bangkok service with just 48 hours’ notice. The carrier had originally planned to suspend the route from July 1 but advanced the move to May 1, citing “continued unprofitability” despite average March load factors above 85 percent. The pull-out deals a blow to Surat’s long-running campaign to position itself as a viable alternative gateway for exporters and the region’s burgeoning SME sector. Stakeholders note that services to Sharjah, Dubai and Singapore have all been shelved over the past three years, often within months of launch. Airport management insists infrastructure is not the constraint: a new 3,810-metre runway, CAT-II ILS and a ₹400-crore terminal upgrade were completed in 2025, but airlines remain wary of thin premium-cabin demand and volatile yields. For international assignees and buyers who frequented Surat’s textile and polishing units, the cancellation means backtracking to Mumbai (a 4-hour road trip) or Ahmedabad to catch overseas connections—adding time, cost and duty-of-care concerns, especially during the monsoon. Freight forwarders shipping high-value gems will likewise have to reroute via Mumbai cargo terminals, raising insurance and security expenses. City industry groups have renewed calls for targeted viability-gap funding and relaxed night-curfew rules to entice low-cost long-haul carriers or short-haul Gulf operators. The Gujarat government is reportedly exploring incentives that mirror those used to secure direct flights from tier-2 Chinese manufacturing cities to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. In the interim, global mobility managers should update travel policies to reflect the loss of nonstop options and build in buffer time for ground transfers. Companies with operations in Surat may also consider negotiated car-hire contracts or charter shuttles to Mumbai to maintain schedule certainty for visiting engineers and auditors.