Direct flights resume between Qatar, Bahrain after hiatus of six years

Direct flights between Qatar and Bahrain began again on Thursday following a hiatus of six years.

Qatar Airways, Doha's flag carrier, tweeted it would fly to the nearby Gulf state daily from Thursday and three times a day beginning on 15 June.

The two countries announced in mid-April that they had agreed to end a long-running diplomatic feud and re-establish relations.

Tracking website FlightAware shows a Qatar Airways plane took off from Hamad International Airport in the Qatari capital at 20:32 (17:32 GMT) on Thursday, landing at 20:59 (17:59 GMT) in Bahrain.

FlightAware also indicated that Gulf Air, Manama's national carrier, had made two trips from Doha to Bahrain – one on Thursday and one on Friday.

A Qatar Airways flight was scheduled for later on Friday. Both airlines have also flown from Bahrain to Doha.

Gulf Air had tweeted on Monday that flights to Doha would begin this Thursday.

Flight search engine Skyscanner shows the airline will make three trips in both directions on 15 June, the day Emirati newspaper The National said it would begin flying thrice daily.

Manama's state news agency last week announced flights would resume between the two countries on Thursday.

#QatarAirways daily flights to Bahrain are starting today

We will increase frequency to 3 daily flights from June 15 ✈️#GoingPlacesTogether with the world's best airline pic.twitter.com/epH2UfiUW3

— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) May 25, 2023

Bahrain in 2017 joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in imposing a blockade on Qatar, which ended in January 2021.

But Doha and Manama's rivalry goes back further. Relations between the two have been more difficult to restore because of thorny issues including their maritime border.

The two sides regularly accuse each other of illegally detaining fishermen from the other country.

Reuters and agencies contributed to this report.