Qatar, Bahrain resume direct flights after 6-year break

ISTANBUL

Qatar and Bahrain resume direct flights Thursday, according to Qatar Airways.

"Daily flights to Bahrain are starting today. We will increase frequency to three daily flights from June 1," the air carrier tweeted.

The decision came about a month after Qatar and Bahrain announced in a joint statement their decision to restore diplomatic ties.

On May 16, Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs announced “the resumption of flights between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the State of Qatar, as of May 25, in accordance with what was agreed upon between the concerned authorities in the two brotherly countries,” according to the Bahrain News Agency.

Bahrain's flag carrier Gulf Air also said it will operate three daily flights from Bahrain International Airport to Hamad International Airport in the Qatari capital Doha, with an aspiration to increase the number of flights in the near future.

Gulf Air launched its first flight to Doha in 1950.

Qatar and Bahrain did not officially announce the date of the first flight.

The two sides decided to restore diplomatic relations after the 2nd meeting of the Bahrain-Qatar Follow-up Committee at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh, Qatar News Agency reported.

The agreement came over two years after the Al-Ula Declaration was signed at the GCC summit in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 5, 2021, which ended the four-year boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi