Published on 4/25/2026
Kuwait – After Kuwait announced the opening of its airspace to air traffic, the Kuwaiti aviation and travel sector is entering a phase of gradual recovery following weeks of turmoil imposed by tensions in the region, which prompted thousands of travelers to undertake arduous journeys through neighboring countries, in a scene that reflects the extent of the pressure to which this vital sector has been exposed.
Kuwait News Agency reported that Kuwait Airways will resume flights to several destinations from Kuwait International Airport tomorrow, Sunday, after the authorities reopened the country’s airspace the day before yesterday, Thursday.
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Kuwait Airways will operate flights from Terminal 4 to 17 destinations, and Jazeera Airways will also resume its services to 9 destinations from Terminal 5.
Hard trips
Over the past weeks, humanitarian stories have emerged that reflect the extent of the impact on travel and passengers with the closure of Kuwaiti airspace.
In one of the ticket reservation offices in Farwaniya Governorate, three Egyptian brothers working in Kuwait entered, trying to join their mother, who is in intensive care in Cairo. They did not hesitate to travel despite the high cost of the ticket to more than 300 dinars ($975).
Amira Zaki, an employee at the office, told Al Jazeera Net that travel offices continued to work despite the exceptional circumstances, with the airspace partially closed and flights diverted to complex alternative routes.
She added, “This is what exile is like,” referring to the stories of travelers who were racing against time to return to their families, stressing that the office received daily requests from travelers facing humanitarian conditions, especially at the beginning of this crisis.
A long way through the ports
With the cessation of direct flights, airlines resorted to alternative solutions, represented by combined flights combining land and air, where passengers depart via buses from the exhibition grounds in the Mushrif area of the Kuwaiti capital, passing through the Nuwaiseeb and Khafji ports, arriving at Dammam Airport, to complete the trip by air to other cities.
This trip took about 20 hours, and included multiple border procedures, but it remained the only option available to thousands of residents wishing to travel during that period.
From the exhibition grounds in Mushrif, Al Jazeera Net monitored scenes of travelers gathering in Hall No. 8 to complete travel procedures, before heading to the buses that take them to the border.
Dozens of buses wait at the site before departing to the Nuwaiseeb port, where passports and civil cards are collected inside the buses. Then passengers complete the crossing procedures at the Khafji port, before heading to Saudi airports.
“Temporary airport” within 20 hours
Faced with the closure of the skies, airlines have resorted to devising alternative operational solutions to keep flights running.
In this context, the Director of Projects and Infrastructure at Jazeera Airways, Dhari Abdul Mohsen Al-Awad, said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the company had developed several scenarios since the beginning of the crisis to deal with the closure of airspace, before turning to operating flights through airports in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Awwad explained that the company began operating flights from Qaisumah Airport in just 10 days, before later expanding to King Fahd Airport in Dammam as demand increased.
He added that Hall No. (8) at the exhibition grounds in the Mushrif area was transformed into an integrated operating center within only 20 hours, to serve as an alternative station for completing travel procedures.
Al-Awwad explained that this “temporary airport” includes 12 passenger registration platforms and two bus boarding gates, which transport travelers to Saudi airports to complete their flight.
Al-Awad revealed that the company has carried out more than 1,200 flights since the beginning of the crisis, during which it transported about 132,000 passengers to 25 destinations in 10 countries, in addition to transporting more than 300 tons of freight, in support of vital supplies.
He stressed that Kuwait during the crisis “kept flying in the sky and transporting its citizens and residents,” stressing that the aviation sector would return to full strength as soon as possible to complete its mission of facilitating travel to all parts of the world.
He attributed the increase in ticket prices during that period to high operating costs, including fuel and insurance, in addition to the requirement of some destinations to provide fuel for the outbound and return trips, under exceptional circumstances.
Satisfaction despite hardship
Despite the difficulty of travel, a number of travelers expressed their relief that travel remained available during the crisis.
A Nepalese traveler in Hall No. 8 told Al Jazeera Net that she is happy to return to her country through these alternative flights, despite the long and complex road.
As a Tunisian traveler said, “Stop it, Al Jazeera… the hall was an integrated airport in every sense of the word,” praising the organization of flights despite the circumstances, and expressing his thanks for the efforts made by the State of Kuwait.
The official spokesman for the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Abdullah Al-Rajhi, explained that the first phase of the restart will include specific destinations, with priority given to cargo flights and securing strategic stock, in addition to flights of students, patients, and diplomatic missions.
Tourism sector challenges
For his part, the head of the Federation of Travel and Tourism Offices, Muhammad Al-Mutairi, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the tourism and travel sector in Kuwait was clearly affected as a result of the cessation of flights, in light of its primary dependence on air traffic.
He added that companies dealt with large numbers of cancellation and amendment requests, which led to a decline in revenues, despite continuing to meet their operational obligations.
He pointed out that the most prominent challenges were the great pressure on offices, in addition to the differences in airline policies in dealing with returns and modifications, which required continuous follow-up with customers.
Al-Mutairi expected that the sector’s gradual recovery would begin with the return of flights and the regularity of air traffic, pointing out that restoring activity to normal levels may take time, in light of the accumulation of deferred orders and the re-arranging of travelers’ travel plans.
While airlines are regaining their activity, the most prominent challenge remains in absorbing deferred requests and rebuilding the flow of travel, amid a cautious recovery phase whose first features are still taking shape.
