The closure of Bahrain Air on Tuesday night has thrown the travel plans of hundreds of travelers into disarray and left many of them stranded at transit points.
Since its launch in 2008, the privately-owned budget airline from Bahrain was flying to more than 20 destinations in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. It was especially popular with middle income Indian and Sudanese expatriates in the Eastern Province.
Much of its clientele came from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Air had designated Dammam as its second hub last year. It had launched direct flights to Khartoum and Beirut from Dammam.
In a written statement issued on Tuesday night, Bahrain Air’s board of directors announced the airline’s immediate suspension of operations.
“The airline sustained considerable financial losses as a result of the unstable political and security situation in Bahrain,” said the statement.
Worried travelers, who were holding Bahrain Air tickets to various destinations, were directed to the airline’s website for help. In a statement on its website, the airline said the closure means that all the operations, including administrative operations, have ceased completely.
“As such, no employee of Bahrain Air can provide refunds or provide you with an alternative airline ticket ... If you have not completed your journey, you will regrettably have to make your own arrangements and purchase new tickets if necessary,” said the statement.
Immediately after the airline’s closure and suspension of its flights, India-bound expatriates from the Eastern Province found themselves stranded at the Bahrain International Airport.
“We came to Bahrain via the Alkhobar Causeway to catch the Bahrain Air flight to Calicut, and we are now being told of the airline’s liquidation,” said Abdul Rahman Kutty, an Indian national. “We are confused and everyone here at the airport is telling us to buy new tickets from different airlines.”
To add to the confusion, all Bahrain Air representatives in Dammam refused to speak about the closure. They instead advised Arab News to refer to the information posted on the airline’s website. “We are not authorized to speak to the media and the airline’s fate is now in the hands of the liquidators,” said a representative at the Bahrain Air office in Alkhobar.
The closure took local travel firms by total surprise. “This is shocking and will create huge inconvenience to our clients,” said Syed Waheed Lateef, general manager of Jubail’s Azmeel Travel.
He said those passengers who have already traveled halfway through their journey will be stranded at the transit points and they will have to make alternate arrangements via different airlines to reach their final destination.
“All Bahrain Air tickets have now become redundant,” Lateef said. “It is going to be quite a mess.”
