Air India Express (IX, Delhi International), IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International), Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International), SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International), and GoAir (Mumbai International) all said they are ready to commence operations from the new airport at Kannur in the southern Indian state of Kerala when it opens on December 9, 2018, New Indian Express has reported.

While the exact proposed schedules have not been revealed, the carriers said they would seek to launch both domestic and international routes.

Non-Indian airlines such as Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International), Oman Air (WY, Muscat), flydubai (FZ, Dubai International), Air Arabia (G9, Sharjah), and Gulf Air (GF, Bahrain International) also expressed interest in serving Kannur. However, during the initial phase of the airport operations, only domestic airlines will be permitted to fly to and from the city.

Air India Express already announced earlier this year that it would launch services out of Kannur to each of Dubai International and Mangalore Bajpe in September 2018, but later dropped the routes as the opening of Kannur slipped to December.