Jet Airways is set to discontinue its direct flight service from Mangaluru to Dubai from the first week of December. The flight service, which is available everyday, will continue up to December 4. But from December 5, the options for a passenger travelling from Mangaluru to Dubai will include a stop-over.

"The direct flight from Mangaluru to Dubai has been discontinued for four months for operational reasons. Passengers who have already booked tickets will be switched to flights with a layover at Mumbai, New Delhi or Bengaluru," said a statement by a Jet Airways spokesperson.

The cancellation of the flight comes ahead of a busy schedule expected in the second half of December on account of Christmas holidays. The cancellation of the direct flight means that Air India Express and SpiceJet are the two flights operating daily between Mangaluru and Dubai.

As per the Jet Airways ticketing portal, the bookings available from December 5 indicate that the flight from Mangaluru to Dubai will include a stopover in either Mumbai or New Delhi. This will take the total travel time on the route to 6 hours and 40 minutes as it will include a 1-and-a-half hour layover time. The travel time for the direct flight between Mangaluru and Dubai was 4 hours.

The development comes amid financial troubles at Jet Airways after the carrier posted losses for the third straight quarter earlier this month. It was also in the news for  trimming its workforce and grounding few of its planes in a bid to work its way out of financial trouble.

Meanwhile, the Kannur airport is set to host its inaugural flight to Dubai on December 9. The airport will be Kerala's fourth international airport and is the closest one to the airport in Mangaluru. The emergence of the airport could see users from northern Kerala travel to Kannur instead of Mangaluru to board flights.