Air India Express moves flights to Sharjah

Air India Express, the low-cost airline subsidiary of Air India, will operate its flight services from Sharjah, starting May 1, due to the partial closure of runway at the Dubai International Airport.

"With partial runway closure at Dubai airport from May 1 to July 20, flights between Dubai and Pune, Amritsar, Lucknow, Trichy and Jaipur will operate to and from Sharjah," Air India Express said in a notice on its website.

The airline has advised customers to check the website for detailed flight timings.

Dubai Airports has said all systems will undergo a comprehensive runway upgrade as part of the project to boost safety, service and capacity levels at the world's second busiest international airport.

"The work will last 80 days during which the runways would be closed alternatively— the southern runway from May 1 to May 31 and the northern runway from May 31 to July 20.

“The number of flights at Dubai international airport is likely to be reduced by 26 per cent during the repair," Dubai Airports said.

"The flights will continue to operate thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

“On May 1, which is Thursday, the flight will take off from Dubai at 9.30am (local time) and land in Pune at 2.10pm. It will take off from Pune at 3.40pm and land at Sharjah at 5.20pm (local time)," Air India's Pune station manager Dhairyasheel Vandekar told Times of India.

From May 4 to July 20, the flight will operate between Sharjah and Pune.

"The take-off time from Sharjah (flight IX 214) will be 9.30 am and arrival in Pune at 2.10 pm. The return leg from Pune (IX 213) will start at 3.40 pm and arrival at Sharjah at 5.20 pm," Vandekar said.

From July 22 to October 23, the service will return to Dubai-Pune route as flight IX 212/211.

Take-off from Dubai will be at 9.50 am (local time) while the rest of the timings will be the same.

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