The Kuwait International Airport began implementing Cabinet decisions from Oct 24 to raise the airport’s operational capacity to the pre-Covid-19 era to all parts of the world, while at the same time adhering to the health portocols followed globally in this regard.
The Deputy Director-General for Planning and Projects Affairs at the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Eng. Saad Al-Otaibi, said the administration is ready to implement the Cabinet’s decision to increase the capacity of Kuwait International Airport to its full capacity of 30,000 passengers per day (15,000 inbound and the same amount outgoing), as it was before the pandemic broke out.
He indicated, in a statement to Al-Jarida, that the Cabinet’s decision aims to facilitate travel and provide the required seats for those who wish to travel during the coming period, saying the DGCA is in full coordination with government agencies operating at the airport, led by the ministries of Interior and Health, and the General Administration of Customs to implement the decisions of the Council of Ministers.
The DGCA Director of the Operations Department, Mansour Al-Hashemi, said so far, “we have not encountered any difficulties in terms of operational requests and pointed out all the operating requests submitted to the DGCA were according to the operational schedules.
He pointed out that the air transport market is now open to all operating requests and there will be more breakthroughs in air traffic in the coming days, stressing that opening the airport to its full potential will positively affect all activities provided at Kuwait International Airport, including tickets for arrivals.
In a related context, one of the travel offices indicated that based on supply and demand principle the tickets are expected to see a decline and said for example a one-way ticket to Kuwait from Cairo that had cost KD 400 two months ago and now it is KD 160, and expects to drop further in coming days.
He added that the reservation of travel tickets is limited only to those who have residence permit in Kuwait, especially since the competent state authorities have not yet opened the door for visas for various sectors, as was the situation before the spread of the pandemic.