Kuwait to regulate air transport market as travel business grows

Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation is preparing a set of regulations for the air transportation market in Kuwait, to govern relations between airlines and travel agents, as well as standardising booking systems and passengers.

The Kuwait official news agency reported today that Deputy Director for Air Travel and Transport Affairs, Nabil Al-Zamel, said these regulations were aimed at protecting the rights of passengers, noting that at present, many bilateral and bloc agreements were being signed with different countries to boost tourism and travel activity to and from Kuwait.

Since the implementation of the open skies policy in Kuwait in 2003, 93 agreements were signed by Kuwait with other countries, he said, the last of which he signed during a recent visit to China.

China is new on the tourism map and is attracting many Kuwaitis, and as per the agreement, the number of weekly flights between the two countries will be raised from three to 17, he explained.

Al-Zamel added that the Air Transport Association (IATA) will hold a conference in Jamaica next month, on the sidelines of which Kuwait would be signing several agreements.

Asked about travel activity this season, he said that growth in air travel activity, in terms of passengers and flights, was up 12 percent in the first four months of this year, compared to last week, which he said was a positive indication.

He also expected that many people would be traveling to closer destinations this year due to the early onset of Ramdan.