New Delhi, Sept. 9 -- Air India is increasingly exiting smaller-city and regional domestic markets in favour of its low-cost carrier Air India Express, as the Tata group sharpens the roles of its two airlines and looks to focus Air India on international, long-haul and the major metro markets.

In August, Air India decided to stop servicing seven cities-Coimbatore, Bhopal, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Madurai, Tirupati, Jodhpur and Jamnagar-which its budget carrier Air India Express took over, according to two people familiar with the group's network strategy.

Select routes, including Mumbai-Kochi and Kochi-Delhi, have also transitioned to the low-cost carrier.

The decision on Air India moving away from some smaller cities wa...