Kuwait to restart flights to 20 countries on 1 August

Airlines operating out of Kuwait International Airport (KIA) will resume commercial flights to destinations in 20 countries from 1 August, after a near five-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The restart will provide a boost for regional jet fuel demand, which was much reduced in the first half of the year as countries locked down their borders in an effort to mitigate the spread of the outbreak.

Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that flights will begin operating from KIA to eight countries in the Middle East — the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, Qatar, Jordan, Iran and Egypt; six in Europe — Bosnia-Herzegovina, the UK, Turkey, Switzerland, Germany and Azerbaijan; five in Asia-Pacific — Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines and India; and to Ethiopia in Africa.

Kuwait has a plan to gradually restart flights in three six-month phases. The first stage, which starts on 1 August, will see KIA operate at 30pc capacity — no more than 10,000 passengers and 100 flights a day. The second phase is scheduled to begin on 1 February, and the third on 1 August 2021.

Kuwait suspended all international flights to and from KIA on 13 March. The country recorded its first five cases of Covid-19 on 24 February, and had 100 by 13 June.

This resumption of commercial flights from Kuwait should spur an increase in jet fuel demand in the country, which fell by 70pc between March and April, according to state-owned refiner KNPC. In April and March 2019 Kuwait's jet fuel demand averaged 11,500 b/d, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (Jodi).

Kuwait yesterday moved to the third phase of its five-phase plan to "return to normalcy," by shortening a nationwide curfew to six hours and by lifting the remaining lockdown on Farwaniya governorate. The eased restrictions will have a positive impact on gasoline and gasoil consumption in the country.

By Ieva Paldaviciute