COVID-19: Bahrain’s Gulf Air flies again to Kuwait

Cairo: Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air has said it resumed flying to Kuwait after the latter reopened its airport for international flights after a halt of nearly 5 months .

Gulf Air said it was proud of resuming the flights to Kuwait, an activity it has been pursuing since 1959. The carrier posted footage of a plane hoisting both the Bahraini and Kuwaiti flags marking the restart of flights to the Gulf country.

The airline was among a few carriers that continued scheduled flights during the COVID-19 crisis.

On June 29, the Kuwaiti government approved a three-stage plan to resume commercial flights in and out of Kuwait starting August 1.

Around 100 flights with maximum 10,000 passengers per day are allowed in the first phase of reoperation.

In the second phase starting on February 1 for six more months, the Kuwait International Airport will reoperate at 60 per cent of its normal capacity. The expected numbers of passengers in that phase are not to exceed 20,000 per day on a maximum number of flights of 200.

The third phase, beginning in August next year, will mark return to full capacity.