260,000 crossings in Bahrain airspace in first six months

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Air Navigation Centre has managed about 260,000 aircraft crossing the Kingdom’s airspace in the first six months of this year.

The Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, His Excellency Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, informed the Shura Council yesterday, as members debated and then approved the Bahrain-Kyrgyz air services agreement.

The council discussed a report by its Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee on a draft law to ratify the agreement with the Kyrgyz Republic, submitted with Royal Decree No. 35 of 2025, with the minister attending the sitting.

Ties

Committee rapporteur Nancy Dina Khadouri said the agreement is meant to strengthen air-transport ties, support competition among carriers, widen choices in international services and keep security and safety at a high level.

She said it follows model bilateral air-service texts used internationally under the International Civil Aviation Organization framework, with provisions on flight safety, aviation security, safe operations and mutual recognition of certificates and licences.

Khadouri said the deal is expected to support the national carrier, allow scope for future routes, and back air-linked trade, investment and logistics between the two countries.

Pressure

Shaikh Abdullah then spoke about the kind of pressure that can land on air-traffic controllers with little warning.

He pointed to a night when air-raid sirens sounded in Qatar at about 7.05pm after what he described as an Iranian attack, while Bahrain was managing traffic and protecting its airspace.

“In the event of an armed political conflict, a decision must be taken on whether air traffic should continue,” he said.

Airspace

He said Bahrain decided that day to close its airspace, a call made harder because aircraft were already within Bahrain’s flight information region and arrivals could no longer be accepted at Bahrain International Airport.

The closure lasted two hours, he said, and there were 16 aircraft in Bahraini airspace at the time.

“We ordered the closure of Bahrain’s airspace,” he said. He said the closure required two immediate steps: work with nearby airports to receive diverted flights in line with security and safety rules, and notify partner states and airlines covered by air-transport agreements of the action taken and what would follow until matters settled.

Situation

Shaikh Abdullah said he was at the air traffic centre during the incident, adding Bahraini teams handled the situation calmly.

“We have trained Bahraini personnel working to the highest international standards who managed the situation calmly and professionally,” he said.

Turning to Bahrain International Airport, he said its upgraded capacity is 14 million passengers a year, while last year’s figure stood at 9.3 million.

Measures

He said Bahrain is looking for measures to raise passenger traffic, describing airport movement as a key support for the economy and tourism.

The Minister said Bahrain has been granting fifth and seventh freedom rights in aviation.

Under the Bahrain–Kyrgyz agreement, he said, an airline can operate to and from Bahrain from its home market, with fifth freedom rights allowing it to continue to a third destination after landing in Bahrain.

He said Bahrain is also seeking to expand seventh freedom rights by registering foreign aircraft on the national register so they can fly from Bahrain to destinations directly without being bound by bilateral route limits. He also referred to an agreement signed at the Gateway Gulf Forum with what he described as Asia’s largest lowcost airline, saying it has carried about 900 million passengers worldwide and that three other regional parties had been in contention for its regional base.

Shaikh Abdullah said that a national aviation strategy is close to completion next year, drafted with input from all relevant bodies.