DAMMAM, 6 February — About 10,000 passengers from the Kingdom to various international destinations will have their travel plans disrupted during the Eid holidays. They will have to cancel reservations from Bahrain following Presidency of Civil Aviation orders that foreign airlines must stop transporting passengers from the Eastern Province by road to neighboring countries, press reports said yesterday quoting airline sources.

The PCA campaign got a boost yesterday with Emirates airline, the national carrier of the UAE, announcing that it was stopping the practice of carrying passengers by road via King Fahd Causeway to Bahrain. Kuwait Airways has already stopped land transport of its passengers.

The PCA in a statement issued stern warning to foreign airlines that carry passengers via the Causeway. It said the practice not only incurs huge losses to Saudi Arabia but also undermines security at airports.

Both the airline companies and passengers, who have already made their reservations for the upcoming vacation, are now facing a dilemma because the PCA’s order was issued without any notice or grace period. The companies are also worried about passengers returning after vacation.

The representatives of the foreign airlines are striving to resolve the issue, at least temporarily, by requesting the PCA to postpone the implementation of the order until the end of the Eid holidays.

They are also holding discussions with the King Fahd International Airport Authority to resolve the issue, Al-Watan newspaper quoted airline sources as saying.

Many foreign airlines were taking passengers from the Eastern Province by road to Bahrain to be flown from there to their final destinations. Gulf Air, Qatar Airways and Indian Airlines have yet to stop the land transport arrangement.

The PCA decision, though welcomed by airlines operating directly from Dammam, has created a certain amount of nervousness among other carriers.

Airlines such as Gulf Air and Emirates thrive on passengers traveling to the subcontinent and Europe. Normally, they carry passengers by road to Bahrain and from there to their respective destinations. Many direct airlines — like Air-India, Saudia and Air Lanka — were losing passengers due to this practice.

The companies do not challenge the PCA orders to close their offices in Dammam and Alkhobar, where passengers who wish to fly from Bahrain airport are issued with boarding passes. But they demand that the authorities should allow them to operate more flights from KFIA.

Gulf Air has reportedly demanded an increase in its weekly flights from seven to 21. However, the PCA made it clear in a press statement last year that it would not give in to such demands. Airlines in Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait also want to increase their flights from Dammam airport in light of the rising demand.

The airline companies claim that they used to arrange buses to Bahrain airport in response to the demand by passengers, though it was more expensive. It is cheaper for the companies to fly the passengers directly from the KFIA, they added. But the Kingdom’s aviation authorities had accused some foreign companies of illegally luring away passengers to the airports in the neighboring countries.

In a statement PCA said that it was working on a plan outlined by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, that promises more incentives to foreign airlines. The package includes a reduction in several charges and a lower price for fuel. The foreign airlines, however, say that the Kingdom should adopt an open sky policy.

Meanwhile, the fare war in the Indian sector is heating up once again after a short-lived agreement between the airlines. National carrier Saudia revived the Yield Improvement Committee and after consultation with many foreign airlines announced a fare hike of nearly 10 percent on various Indian sectors. Air-India, Gulf Air, Emirates and Kuwait Airways followed suit.

Within a week the agreement collapsed, and once again all these airlines are involved in heavy undercutting. But with Eid Al-Adha holidays approaching, it is expected that by the end of next week they will increase fares again — at least temporarily.