Azernews.Az

Leman Mammadova

The number of direct flights to Azerbaijan from the Gulf countries continues to increase due to the growth in the number of tourists arriving in the country.

Kuwait Airways will launch flights from Kuwait City to Baku since August 1.

The flights will be operated twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays, according to the information by the company.

The travel time is 2 hours and 40 minutes. The flights will be operated by Airbus A320-100/200 aircraft.

The plane will depart from Kuwait International Airport at 10:10 am local time, and arrive at Heydar Aliyev International Airport at 13:40 local time. The return flight will be at 14:40 Baku time with arrival at Kuwait Airport at 16:20 local time.

In 2016, Azerbaijani and Kuwaiti civil aviation companies signed an agreement on air communication between the two countries to remove obstacles for opening air links, which will contribute to further development of bilateral economic and cultural relations between the two sides.

In accordance with the agreement, Azerbaijan Airlines AZAL implemented the first charter flight between Baku and Kuwait City in early 2017.

Later, in July 2017, Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways launched direct flights to Baku.

In late 2018, AZAL began direct flights from Baku to Kuwait. The flights are operated twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays on Airbus A319 aircraft with economy class and comfort club configurations. Departures are carried out through Terminal 1 of Heydar Aliyev International Airport.

In February 2016, Azerbaijan introduced a simplified system for issuing visas at all international airports of the country and it led to a growth in the tourist traffic from Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other countries.

Last year, the largest increase in the number of incoming tourists was observed among the citizens of the Gulf countries (except for the UAE and Iran). As many as 554,100 people came from the Gulf countries, and almost every fifth who arrived in Azerbaijan was a citizen of these countries.

Of the tourists, the number of Saudi Arabian citizens increased 2.2 times, Bahrain doubled, Kuwait 1.8 times, Qatar 1.6 times, Iraq 7.9 percent, Oman 7.4 percent compared to 2017. On the other hand, the number of arriving Iranian and UAE tourists decreased by 33.7 and 8.3 percent, respectively.

Kuwait is among the 95 countries which can enjoy Azerbaijan’s ASAN Visa system, through which travelers are able to receive e-visas in three steps (appeal, payment and loading of an electronic visa) within three hours.

Visa on arrival for Kuwaitis and electronic visas through ASAN Visa system make it easy to travel to Azerbaijan. E-Visa is valid for 30 days for a fee of $20.

At present, e-visas are issued through ASAN Visa system at Baku, Ganja, Gabala and Lankaran international airports.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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