Air India ends full-service flights at Manipur’s Imphal; low-cost wing AI Express to continue services

The Tata Group-owned full-service airline Air India has ended its operations at Manipur’s Imphal International Airport from 15 June 2025, reported the news agency PTI, citing Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials on Monday, 16 June 2025. 

According to the agency report, the company’s low-cost carrier, Air India Express, will continue serving the routes from the North Eastern State. The company’s move was allegedly a long-standing and pre-planned decision.

“It is part of a long-standing, pre-planned strategic decision by the airline, and is in no way related to any recent incident,” one of the airport officials told the news agency.

Another official highlighted that the company is carrying out ‘strategic realignment’ measures after the Tata Group is putting efforts to turn around the company. 

“The move is part of a broader strategic realignment by the Tata Group, which owns the airline. Air India Express, the group’s low-cost subsidiary, will continue its operations at Imphal, signalling a shift in service model but ensuring continued air connectivity,” the official told the news agency.

Air India Crash

This development comes after an Ahmedabad-London flight, AI 171, crashed after taking off from the Indian airport last week, claiming the lives of 241 souls on board. Only one passenger made it out alive, and many people were injured around the location where the aircraft landed on 12 June 2025.

The officials cited in the agency report, however, said that the move to roll back operations of the full-service carrier from the Imphal airport is not due to the recent incident and is part of the company’s plan from earlier.

On 12 June 2025, the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad’s Meghani Nagar area around 1:40 p.m. The incident also killed five MBBS doctors, one PG resident doctor, and the wife of a senior doctor at the medical college.

Investigations are still underway to determine the cause of the Air India plane crash, with aviation and regulatory experts considering factors such as engine failure or technical issues during takeoff.

“To lose a single person we know is a tragedy, but for so many deaths to occur at once is incomprehensible. This is one of the darkest days in the Tata Group’s history,” said N. Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of the Tata Group of companies, in an internal letter to employees.