TOP level talks are urgently taking place between Bahraini officials and British Airways management over suggestions that the London-Manama route will be permanently grounded just as British race fans prepare to book direct flights for next season’s Formula One race, writes Stanley Szecowka.
Bahrain-owned McLaren and the team’s drivers are leading grand prix contenders on the construction and driving front and the British-based outfit boasts massive travelling support at home and abroad.
The decision appears to have been made without any consultation and the UK’s national flag-carrying airline is facing a ‘backlash’, the UK’s Daily Mail has reported.
The flag carrier is set to scrap direct services to Bahrain and Kuwait, Gulf states with long-standing ties to Britain, in a move branded ‘madness’ by local officials.
Dr Liam Fox, who served as defence secretary under former Tory Prime Minister David Cameron, told the Mail that BA’s move would send ‘totally the wrong message’ about Britain’s diplomatic intentions while also harming UK business interests in the region.
“At a time when the Gulf is becoming much more important geopolitically and we are attempting to negotiate new trade agreements in the region, this would be a blow to UK PLC,” he said. “It’s the worst possible decision at the worst possible time.”
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith called on the new Labour UK government to step in to try to defuse the growing diplomatic crisis.
“BA is a private company and it is their ultimate decision,” he said. But he added: “There must be a way for the government to remediate this.”
BA has decided that flights to the two Gulf states are no longer ‘commercially viable’, online reports suggest, leaving staff who have served on the routes at risk of losing their jobs. As reported in the GDN, the Labour Ministry said it was ‘closely’ following up the situation of employees at the company’s offices in Bahrain.
It comes as the airline struggles with ongoing issues with the Rolls Royce-manufactured jet engines that power its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
BA, state-owned from its inception, was privatised in 1987. It is now owned by Anglo-Spanish conglomerate IAG, which also controls carriers Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and Level.
BA currently operates at least one direct flight from London to both Bahrain and Kuwait per day.
The move to scrap the routes has sparked concerns that the UK’s global influence could be reduced while straining relations with allies in the region, the Mail added. Bahrain, for example, is home to a UK Naval Support Facility.
Members of the British Chamber of Commerce Bahrain (BCCB), widely recognised in Bahrain and the UK as a leading impartial business sector group, have been stunned by the news.
“The British Chamber is very disappointed with British Airways’ recent announcement. It remains to be seen as to what the resulting impacts will be on trade and investment, including Bahrain’s tourism sector,” said Paula Boast, BCCB vice chair.
The GDN understands from reliable sources that diplomatic moves have been made behind the scenes over the weekend to try to open a dialogue between high-level interested parties to see whether an amicable solution can be found.
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