ALKHOBAR, 3 October — Despite reports to the contrary, residents of the Eastern Province continue to use the King Fahd Causeway to access flights departing from Bahrain. Although the Presidency of Civil Aviation seeks to put an end to the practice, international law makes it impossible for it to do so.
In January 2002, Civil Aviation asked airlines to desist from issuing boarding passes and checking in luggage at offices and hotels in the Eastern Province for passengers departing through international airports neighboring the Eastern Province. Such practices were inconsistent with the Kingdom’s rules and regulations and could result in security problems.
It was also pointed out that these arrangements contributed to diverting business from King Fahd International Airport (KFIA).
While all airlines in the Eastern Province have complied with the request this has not stopped their Bahraini-bound operations. Now, tickets are issued here showing the first leg of the journey as road transport being provided through the Saudi-Bahraini Transport Company. All foreign airlines have set up transport to Bahrain on a contract basis through SABTCO, which is licensed to carry all properly documented individuals on the King Fahd Causeway. All other passenger formalities are carried out at the Bahrain International Airport.
With the dearth of flights, poor connections and poor services at KFIA the situation will not improve soon. In fact, Bahrain has won another operator with Thai International about to start flights. Even airlines that want to operate from KFIA are being refused. Industry sources say that Emirates Airlines wanted to increase flights to KFIA but it was turned down on the ground that Civil Aviation is only interested in increased flights from non-Gulf carriers. It is feared that Gulf-carriers would just use flights from KFIA to feed their primary GCC hubs, siphoning off international passengers from Saudi Arabian Airlines.
In order to improve the flight situation at KFIA, industry sources suggest that Civil Aviation follow the example of Bahrain and Sharjah. Fees for airlines starting operations to Dammam should be suspended or reduced.
Accommodation for flight crews should be subsidized. Airport services must be enhanced. Public transportation must be increased and parking fees suspended or discounted.
"There are so many problems at KFIA, large and small, that there is a lot of room for improvement," said one airline executive.
"Passengers have a hard time even getting to that airport because of continuing road construction. A taxi to KFIA from Alkhobar costs the same amount as sharing a car to Bahrain, and then flying from Bahrain will cost less. In Bahrain parking is free. At KFIA it’s one riyal per hour.
There is no hotline to the airport to discover if flights are on time or delayed. Porters at KFIA are aggressive and demand SR20 even for one or two bags. In Bahrain it’s a flat SR10. Add all these small problems to big ones like the inconvenience at immigration and customs and it is easy to understand why so many people prefer flying from Bahrain."
