Kuwait’s two national carriers resumed direct operations from Kuwait International Airport (KWI) on April 26, 2026, ending a nearly two-month forced exile in Saudi Arabia following Iranian retaliatory strikes that shut down regional airspace at the start of March 2026.
Kuwait Airways will operate 35 flights from Terminal 4 (T4) over the first week, serving an initial network of 17 international destinations, including London, Istanbul, Mumbai, Cairo, Manila, Riyadh, and Jeddah.
Acting CEO Abdulwahab Al-Shatti told Kuwait state news agency KUNA that Cairo flights would run daily, while Jeddah and Dhaka would each be served four times per week. Eight cities, including London, Riyadh, Mumbai, and Manila, will receive three weekly flights, with single weekly rotations to Istanbul, Guangzhou, and Colombo.
Low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways resumed direct service from its dedicated Terminal 5 (T5) on the same day, with a network of 10 direct destinations: Amman, Beirut, Mumbai, Cairo, Kochi, Damascus, Delhi, Istanbul, Riyadh, and Jeddah. The carrier added Riyadh and Jeddah to its initial restart plan, strengthening intra-Gulf connectivity. Notably, Dubai will not yet be served directly from Kuwait and will continue to operate via Dammam.
Phased airport reopening, with Terminal 1 still out
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reopened Kuwait’s airspace on April 23, 2026, ending a closure that had been in place since February 28, 2026. Commercial operations only resumed three days later under a phased restart. Both T4 and T5 operate within a restricted daily window of 09:00 to 16:00, and Kuwait International Airport remains far from full capacity.
Terminal 1, which sustained drone-strike damage during the conflict alongside the airport’s radar system and fuel storage tanks, remains closed for repairs. Terminal 2 is still under construction, with completion now targeted for late 2026. Terminal 3 was permanently closed before the conflict began. The phased approach allows the DGCA to expand capacity as repair and certification milestones are cleared.
No foreign carrier has yet announced a resumption date for KWI services, leaving Kuwait Airways and Jazeera as the only operators at the airport at the time of writing. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and British Airways have not committed to a restart timeline.
Saudi-based contingency operations end
Both Kuwaiti carriers had maintained connectivity throughout the closure by relocating operations to Saudi Arabia. Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways operated from Al-Qaisumah (AQI) and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam (DMM), with passengers transported overland between Kuwait City and the Saudi airfields, a journey of roughly four to five hours by road.
Jazeera Airways branded its contingency operation “Project Barakah,” redeploying more than 500 employees, 14 aircraft, and ground equipment to its dual Saudi bases. The airline also set up a dedicated departure and arrival hall at Kuwait International Fairgrounds, Hall No. 8 in Mishref, to handle travel documentation, baggage processing, and ground transfers. Jazeera CEO Barathan Pasupathi credited the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) for enabling the dual-base setup.
The Mishref facility will continue to operate. Jazeera flights not yet restored as direct services from T5, including Dubai, will keep operating via Dammam under the existing transit model. Kuwait Airways has indicated it will similarly maintain residual operations through Dammam until full KWI capacity is restored.
A late return relative to Gulf neighbors
Kuwait’s restart comes well behind other Gulf states affected by the closures triggered by the February 28 US-Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent Iranian retaliation.
Etihad officially resumed commercial flights on March 6, 2026, although under heavily disrupted conditions. Qatar Airways began operating a limited schedule into Hamad International Airport (DOH) from March 9, 2026 using dedicated corridors approved by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, before allowing foreign carriers to return progressively from April 20, 2026.
Kuwait, by contrast, kept its airspace fully closed for 55 days, the longest sustained Gulf airspace shutdown of the conflict so far. The country was directly targeted in multiple Iranian strikes during the campaign, and the damage to KWI’s terminal infrastructure, radar, and fuel handling systems extended the closure beyond the airspace question alone. The reopening follows an open-ended extension of the US-Iran ceasefire announced on April 21, 2026.
