Alliance Air Ends Delhi to Kullu Flights Oct 24: Plan Manali Trips

Alliance Air, the only airline serving Kullu-Manali’s Bhuntar airport, will stop its direct Delhi to Kullu flights after Saturday 24 October 2026, leaving travellers to the Himachal Pradesh hill region to connect via Jaipur or Dehradun for the winter, The Tribune reports. The airline had been flying the route five days a week.

The cut lands just as the Kullu Dasehra festival runs from 21 to 27 October and the winter tourism season begins. Under the schedule Alliance Air has released through 27 March 2027, Kullu will be linked only to Jaipur and Dehradun, with bookings on the Alliance Air website.

Alliance Air Kullu Flights This Winter

From 27 October, Alliance Air will fly between Kullu and Jaipur on Thursdays and Saturdays, and between Kullu and Dehradun on Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to The Tribune. That cuts flying at Bhuntar from five days a week to three, with no direct link to Delhi.

The weekly Kullu to Amritsar flight has been suspended since May, and expected new links from Hisar and Jammu have not appeared, the paper reports. Alliance Air previously flew Kullu to Delhi daily, and this is the first time direct Delhi flights have been withheld ahead of the Dasehra and winter season.

Connecting Fares Through Jaipur and Dehradun

The connecting routes are cheaper than the old direct flight. A Delhi to Kullu trip via Dehradun costs about Rs 5,000 and the return about Rs 7,000, while Delhi to Kullu via Jaipur is about Rs 7,500 and the return about Rs 9,000, The Tribune reports, compared with direct fares that had topped Rs 20,000.

The catch is time and flexibility. With only two flights a week on each route, a missed connection or a weather delay in the mountains can cost you days rather than hours, so build slack into any connection and book both legs on one ticket where you can.

Kullu Dasehra and Winter Tourism

The festival week from 21 to 27 October straddles the last direct flights, so anyone travelling for Dasehra should book direct seats on or before 24 October now, or plan to return by road or via a connection. Local tourism groups have called the cut a major setback.

Bhupinder Thakur, chief patron of the Kullu Travel Agents Association, called the situation unacceptable and warned that thousands of livelihoods, from tour operators to taxi drivers, depend on tourist arrivals, The Tribune reports. The late release of the winter schedule has also left travellers struggling to plan, the paper says.

Last winter followed a similar pattern. For the 2025 to 2026 winter schedule, Alliance Air cut its weekly departures nationwide by 22.73 percent compared with the previous winter, trimmed Kullu’s Dehradun and Jaipur flights to two a week, and left Kullu to Delhi flights unscheduled beyond mid January for a time, The Tribune reported in 2025. A Kullu to Chandigarh route was due to return in mid January that season.

Other Ways to Reach Manali

Without a direct flight, many travellers will look at road options: overnight buses run from Delhi to Manali, and Chandigarh airport is a common gateway for a road transfer into the Kullu valley. Mountain roads can be slow in winter, so allow a full day for the drive and check weather and road conditions before setting out, especially beyond Manali toward higher passes.

If you do fly, check Alliance Air’s schedule for your dates before booking hotels, since Kullu schedules have been published late in past seasons, and keep an eye out for any return of direct Delhi flights.