Bahrain Air to start Beirut flights from Saudi hub

Bahrain Air, the Gulf kingdom's second carrier, is set to launch flights to Beirut from its new hub in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Services to the Lebanese capital will start on June 20 and will follow the launch of Bahrain Air's Khartoum flights from Dammam which began on Wednesday.

Both destinations will be serviced from King Fahad International Airport in Dammam which the airline said last month would operate as its second hub in the region.

Captain Ibrahim ALHamer, Bahrain Air's managing director, said: "This is a great moment in the history of Bahrain Air. The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia is a very important market for us as we start flying out of Dammam."

Bahrain Air is operating three flights a week to Khartoum International Airport on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday and will operate four flights a week to Beirut on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Bahrain Air currently operates flights to three major cities in Saudi Arabia - Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

In March, the CEO of Bahrain Air said he would be open to a merger with state-backed Gulf Air in a bid to enhance the carriers’ network of flights and overall operational efficiency.

In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business, Richard Nuttall said there was an urgent need to solve the problems that both loss-making airlines face, and that a deal between the two carriers had a lot of support in the country.

“We are very open to merging with Gulf Air, and can see a number of synergies,” he said.