Several Gulf carriers have cancelled their flights to a few destinations, including some services to Bahrain, due to the ongoing regional situation, affecting many passengers planning to travel for the summer holiday, a GDNonline report said.
Etihad Airways cancelled its Bahrain services until July 25 while Emirates also cancelled flights for operational reasons, the report said. A search for Bahrain -Dubai flights on Emirates website for the next two days did not show up any flights.
Meanwhile, Etihad said cancellation of flights EY653 and EY654 between Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport and Kuwait International Airport has been extended to July 26 The flights have been cancelled due to operational reasons, it said.
Qatar Airways’ passenger flight services to Bahrain (BAH), Erbil (EBL), and Kuwait (KWI) are temporarily suspended until and including July 31, the airline said.
According to the Bahrain International Airport flight listings, several Gulf Air flights to different destinations landed and departed on time, while flydubai, Air Arabia, Flynas, Kuwait Airways, Oman Air and Indigo services landed, departed or scheduled from the kingdom.
The airport continues to function normally.
“We are a group of friends and relatives travelling together next week whose flights have been cancelled,” said an anxious Portuguese resident.
“Like many other passengers, we are looking at all options including travelling from neighbouring Gulf states to our final destination.
“Honestly, it’s tiresome due to the ongoing conflict, but we remain hopeful.”
The affected airlines have asked passengers to ensure their contact details are updated to receive the latest flight notifications.
KLM has said that it will not operate flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until September 6.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Foreign Office revised its travel alert for Bahrain to advise against all but essential travel to the country.
“British nationals currently in the Middle East should be prepared for possible flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions,” the advisory added.
The US State Department said some airlines in the region have postponed resumption of earlier flight schedules; others have cancelled some routes.
Earlier this week, the Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) announced that, as a result of the hostile Iranian aggression against Bahrain, the civil air navigation systems of the Bahrain Flight Information Region (FIR) were targeted by hostile drones, without affecting the operation of air navigation services.
The CAA affirmed that relevant authorities responded immediately to the incident in accordance with established operational and security procedures and implemented the necessary measures to ensure the continuity of air navigation services and the safe operation of air traffic.
