Phuket airport runway reopens after plane malfunction; SIA, Scoot flights cancelled, delayed

BANGKOK – The sole runway of Thailand’s Phuket airport reopened late on March 11, Phuket’s governor said, after an Air India Express plane suffered a problem with its nose wheel when landing, causing the runway to close for several hours.

The incident is the latest in a series of challenges involving Air India Express and parent company Air India in recent months.

Phuket is one of Thailand’s busiest gateways, with hundreds of flights daily, including from the Middle East, Europe and Asia, as well as domestic routes.

Phuket Airport said earlier that Air India Express Flight AXB938 arriving from Hyderabad suffered damage to its landing gear as it hit the runway.

The plane “experienced an issue with the nose wheel at Phuket Airport”, a spokesperson for Air India Express said, adding: “The crew followed all standard protocols, and guests were deplaned.”

The Air India Express spokesperson later said nose wheels had been installed on the aircraft and that the incident would be investigated.

There were no casualties, and the runway was initially expected to reopen at 6pm local time (7pm in Singapore), the airport said. The reopening was later pushed to 9pm local time, The Nation reported.

Some flights were diverted to other airports during the closure, reported The Nation.

According to Changi Airport’s flight information website, a total of four flights between Singapore and Phuket operated by Singapore Airlines and its budget arm Scoot were cancelled in the afternoon of March 11.

Singapore Airlines Flight SQ732 was originally scheduled to depart Singapore for Phuket at 1pm, but it was later cancelled.

Scoot Flight TR664 was originally set to fly the same route at 1.15pm, but its departure was then rescheduled to 5pm. The flight was later also cancelled.

Over in Phuket, SIA Flight SQ731, which was supposed to depart at 4.55pm local time, and Scoot Flight TR665, which was slated to take off at 5.30pm local time, were cancelled.

Two flights from Singapore to Phuket were rescheduled. SIA Flight SQ736 was retimed from 4.15pm to 8pm, and later rescheduled to 10pm. Scoot Flight TR652 had its departure pushed back from 6.15pm to 9.30pm.

Phuket International Airport has apologised for the disruption, and advised passengers affected by the closure to check directly with their airlines for flight status and travel details before leaving for the airport, reported The Nation.

An image posted on social media platform X by Thai state broadcaster MCOT showed part of the aircraft landing gear, with a wheel missing, in direct contact with the runway, with a long, swerving skid mark on the tarmac.

Air India Express – the budget arm of Air India – has a fleet of more than 100 Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

India’s aviation watchdog reprimanded Air India Express in March 2025 for not changing the engine parts of an Airbus A320, as directed by the European Union’s aviation safety agency, Reuters has reported. It was also criticised for falsifying records to show compliance.

Air India Express reported 95 technical defects from January to November 2025, India’s Civil Aviation Ministry said in December, the second highest among India’s airlines over the period. The ministry did not provide details on the nature of the faults.

Parent Air India – a full-service carrier – has come under intense scrutiny in the last few months after a series of safety lapses and a deadly crash in Ahmedabad in June 2025 that killed 260 people. REUTERS