Bahrain Air yesterday said it was doing everything it could to help around 140 passengers stranded in the country for nearly 24 hours.
A dispute between India's Civil Aviation Ministry and the airline grounded flights on its newly-launched service to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
The carrier only launched flights to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala less than two weeks ago.
Bahrain Air chief executive Richard Nuttall said the airline's flights to Thiruvananthapuram were part of a bilateral agreement signed between Bahrain and India.
But he revealed the Indian authorities had still not approved of the continuation of flights to Thiruvananthapuram for the summer season, which started on Mon-day.
"This turn of events was totally unexpected, and the carrier is pursuing all means, including diplomatic, to find a speedy resolution to this matter," said Mr Nuttall.
The passengers, who arrived in Bahrain from Saudi Arabia, were due to take a connecting flight at 9.30pm on Wednesday night. They were later put up in hotels where they checked in at about midnight.
Around 100 passengers were flown to Thiruvananthapuram via Mumbai at around 9.30pm last night.
The remaining customers affected are expected to leave on a specially-chartered plane via the same route tonight.
All passengers who do not live in Bahrain are to stay at the Best Western Hotel and Carlton Hotel in Juffair and be provided with free telephone cards to inform friends and relatives while it resolved the situation.
30/03/12 Aniqa Haider/Gulf Daily News
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