Air travel costs to some destinations from Kuwait drop

Air travel fares have recently dropped by 50 to 200 percent to some destinations after resuming full-capacity operations at Kuwait International Airport as of October 24.

According to tourism and travel experts, Kuwaiti citizens and residents are eager to travel amid receding repercussions of the coronavirus crisis locally and abroad, where many countries have reopened borders.

Airfares had soared due to the limited number of offered tickets, the experts said, noting that the pandemic issue had resulted in closing most airports across the globe and impounding aircraft, thus travel companies suffered heavy losses forcing some to shut.

Last month, the Kuwaiti government eased virus-related restrictions for the fully vaccinated people and announced the return of the country’s airport to operate at full capacity.

After a seven-month ban, as of August 1, Kuwait has allowed the entry of expatriates as long as they have received two doses of a vaccine recognised by Kuwait.

Kamal Kabsha, a tourism expert, said that the tickets’ prices dropped by more than 200 percent, namely for the departing flights, however, the fares for incoming ones remained high. Airfares are largely affected by demand and offer as well as costs of main operations, he said, also noting that booking increased by 20 percent before the full resumption of the airport operations.

Full recovery of the travel and air navigation sectors is forecast late 2022 and early 2023, however, the prediction is conditional to vaccinations’ capacity to quell the pandemic and easing of the health restrictions, Kabsha said.