KUWAIT: A decision to limit the capacity of incoming flights to a maximum of 35 passengers on each flight went into effect yesterday, according to a report in Al-Qabas Arabic daily. This caused prices to skyrocket to KD 1,000 per ticket for nearby destinations, in addition to some airlines canceling scheduled flights for financial reasons, leading to the cancellation of around 60,000 reservations.

A circulation sent to airlines operating at Kuwait airport said the operating capacity for arriving flights will be amended from Jan 24 until Feb 6, excluding domestic helpers and transit passengers. There are no changes to passenger capacity for departing flights. An official source said the spread of a coronavirus variant and the discovery of two cases in the country in passengers arriving from Britain made health authorities increase supervision on all arrivals by testing them at the airport before they enter the country.

He said incoming flights could be reduced to only 15 daily after some airlines cancelled their flights to Kuwait. The source said the decision may be reviewed after private labs become available at the airport, for which preparations are ongoing. He said commercial operations in the first stage of a return to normality allowed for around 5,000 daily arriving passengers, but with this decision the number will drop to no more than 1,000.