Low-cost carrier Air India Express (AIX) inaugurated two strategic Middle-East routes on 27 October, linking Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport with Kuwait City and Riyadh. The launches come a day after the airline’s new Bengaluru–Jeddah service and form part of AIX’s winter-schedule expansion that adds 42 weekly international frequencies from its largest domestic hub.
The thrice-weekly Kuwait flight departs Bengaluru at 22:20 and arrives at 00:50, while the Riyadh service operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving at 21:00 and reaching the Saudi capital at 00:20. Introductory one-way fares start at ₹13,600 for Kuwait and ₹13,500 for Riyadh. Both routes are operated by the carrier’s new Boeing 737-8 aircraft featuring a refreshed cabin with USB-A/USB-C charging ports and ‘sky-blue’ mood lighting.
For India-Inc., the non-stops cut transit times to two key Gulf markets from 7–10 hours (via Mumbai or Dubai) to just over five, making same-day client meetings viable. Karnataka’s IT exporters—who collectively employ more than 15,000 engineers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait—have welcomed the move, noting that it will also facilitate compliance trips under the region’s tightening labour-localisation quotas.
Travel analysts point out that AIX’s Kuwait entry breaks IndiGo’s near-monopoly on the city-pair and could exert downward pressure on fares ahead of the year-end travel surge. Meanwhile, the Riyadh connection plugs a gap for Indian SMEs participating in Saudi Arabia’s massive giga-projects, which require frequent sub-contractor rotations.
With these additions, Bengaluru is now connected to seven Gulf destinations on AIX’s network, underscoring the Tata-owned airline’s strategy of building ‘mini-hubs’ outside Delhi and Mumbai as it prepares for a planned merger with AirAsia India in 2026.
The thrice-weekly Kuwait flight departs Bengaluru at 22:20 and arrives at 00:50, while the Riyadh service operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving at 21:00 and reaching the Saudi capital at 00:20. Introductory one-way fares start at ₹13,600 for Kuwait and ₹13,500 for Riyadh. Both routes are operated by the carrier’s new Boeing 737-8 aircraft featuring a refreshed cabin with USB-A/USB-C charging ports and ‘sky-blue’ mood lighting.
For India-Inc., the non-stops cut transit times to two key Gulf markets from 7–10 hours (via Mumbai or Dubai) to just over five, making same-day client meetings viable. Karnataka’s IT exporters—who collectively employ more than 15,000 engineers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait—have welcomed the move, noting that it will also facilitate compliance trips under the region’s tightening labour-localisation quotas.
Travel analysts point out that AIX’s Kuwait entry breaks IndiGo’s near-monopoly on the city-pair and could exert downward pressure on fares ahead of the year-end travel surge. Meanwhile, the Riyadh connection plugs a gap for Indian SMEs participating in Saudi Arabia’s massive giga-projects, which require frequent sub-contractor rotations.
With these additions, Bengaluru is now connected to seven Gulf destinations on AIX’s network, underscoring the Tata-owned airline’s strategy of building ‘mini-hubs’ outside Delhi and Mumbai as it prepares for a planned merger with AirAsia India in 2026.
