Scores of Bahrainis planning to travel to Iraq have had to cancel, or reschedule, their plans after the kingdom’s national carrier cancelled its flights to two major cities, the GDN has learnt.
Gulf Air announced on its Twitter account on Friday it was suspending flights to and from Bahrain to Baghdad and Najaf over safety and security concerns.
The decision follows an American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general at Iraq’s Baghdad airport on Friday.
Reschedule
Qasem Soleimani was the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force and was in charge of their Middle East operations.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens against travelling to Iraq and called on those already in that country to leave immediately.
According to travel agency sources, around 40 people have cancelled their plans to travel to Iraq and many more are expected to follow suit as Gulf Air flights are expected to remain suspended at least till Friday.
Some travellers have rebooked on Fly Baghdad which operates between Bahrain and Najaf.
Al Dairi Travel and Tours owner Hussein Al Dairi told the GDN yesterday two Bahraini families had cancelled their flights while 60 other people decided to continue their trips to Iraq but on a different airline.
Al Dairi Travels and Tours is one of the biggest religious travel contractor in the country, reportedly transporting nearly 300 Bahrainis every week.
“We were told that the suspension of Gulf Air flights will be only for a couple of days,” he said.
“Therefore, I still have 450 people booked on Gulf Air flights to Iraq.
“However, if the airline does not resume flying to Baghdad and Najaf soon the travellers might cancel their bookings, or we might put them on Fly Baghdad.
“I have already transferred 60 people from Gulf Air to Fly Baghdad and they will land in Najaf.
Safety
“However, two families including 10 people cancelled their flights to Iraq.
“However, we have not received any cancellations from Bahrainis in Iraq.
“Most of our customers flew to Iraq on Thursday before the events of Friday.
“The Bahrain Embassy in Iraq has always helped us; those in Baghdad can travel by road to Najaf and take a Fly Baghdad flight to Bahrain.”
Another travel agency said some Bahrainis have changed their destinations from Iraq to some other place.
“Thirty Bahrainis cancelled their trips to Iraq following the suspension of Gulf Air flights,” Ali Amman, a travel co-ordinator from Al Kadhem Transport Tourist and Travels, told the GDN.
“They were on three flights; we had to apologise to them and return their money.
“We had around 120 people switch from Iraq to other countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Azerbaijan.”
He added that some Bahrainis had already known that travelling to Iraq was not ideal and had changed their destinations 10 days ago.
An official source from Gulf Air said the flight cancellations may continue until Friday.
“We don’t know if the flight suspensions will continue beyond January 10, it depends on the situation there,” he told the GDN.
noorz@gdn.com.bh
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