KOZHIKODE: Air India Express services were not back to normal even a day after the cabin crew called off the strike. The Kozhikode-Bahrain flight scheduled to leave at 10:10 am has not left yet. The explanation given by the authorities is that it is a technical fault. The last announcement was that the flight would leave at 6:50. People have been waiting for hours and the protest has intensified.

Officials said that services will resume as soon as the striking employees rejoin. It may take another two days for the services to be restored. Some services were cancelled yesterday also. 22 services from four airports in Kerala were cancelled.

The Muscat service which was supposed to depart from Thiruvananthapuram yesterday evening and the Sharjah service at night were disrupted. Bengaluru and Hyderabad services were also cancelled. Services including Dammam, which was supposed to depart from Kochi at 8:35 am, Muscat, which was supposed to depart at 8:50 am, Bengaluru, which was supposed to depart at 12 am, and Kolkata at 2:30 am were suspended.

The service from Kannur to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dammam, Muscat, Riyadh, Ras Al Khaimah and Doha was also cancelled. The services to Sharjah at 4 pm and to Dubai at 8 pm were conducted. Dubai (two services), Ras Al Khaimah, Kuwait, Doha and Bahrain services from Karipur were cancelled.

The striking employees have started returning to work. Cabin crew are required to obtain a fitness certificate to resume work. Officials informed that the steps for this will be expedited.