Air India Express adds Bengaluru-Kathmandu daily flight, four domestic routes

Air India Express will add five new routes from Bengaluru in its winter schedule, which begins on October 25, 2026, including a new daily international service to Kathmandu, according to details reported on October 9 and 10. On the domestic side, the airline will start daily flights from Bengaluru to Goa's Manohar International Airport at Mopa, to Jodhpur and to Madurai, and twice-daily flights to Coimbatore. The Bengaluru routes are part of what the airline calls its largest winter network so far, with more than 40 new routes and around 585 daily flights once the schedule is fully rolled out in phases.

For travellers in Karnataka and the wider south, the new routes cut out a change of planes on several popular trips. Kathmandu is the headline addition: a direct daily link from Bengaluru makes Nepal easier to reach for holidaymakers, trekkers and pilgrims, and for Nepali workers and students living in the city.

The domestic routes connect Bengaluru with popular leisure and pilgrimage destinations just as the winter travel season begins: Goa's beaches, Jodhpur in Rajasthan, the temple city of Madurai, and Coimbatore, which now gets two flights a day for business and leisure travellers.

The wider expansion shows how fast Indian airlines are growing their networks as air travel demand rises. More routes mean more choice and, on busy corridors, more price competition. For smaller cities, a direct link can bring new visitors and business that a road or rail journey of a day or more would not.

There are practical points for travellers. The schedule starts on October 25 and rolls out in phases, so not every route may begin on the first day. Timings and fares should be checked on the airline's own booking channels before planning a trip.

Short-term: Travellers from Bengaluru gain direct options for winter holidays and pilgrimages from late October, ahead of the festive and year-end travel rush.

Long-term: Wider point-to-point networks from Bengaluru can boost tourism in destinations like Jodhpur, Madurai and Nepal, and strengthen the city's role as an aviation hub for south India.

Who is affected: Air travellers in Bengaluru and Karnataka, tourism businesses in Goa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Nepal, Nepali residents of Bengaluru, and competing airlines on these routes.

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