Kuwait's Jazeera Airways has inaugurated Prague, its latest European route. It means the airport pair is reconnected after a 13-year absence. This summer, Prague has non-stop flights to six Middle East cities involving nine airlines, eight from the Middle East. It comes as another new Jazeera route, Vienna, is in the air when writing.

Kuwait to Vienna Jazeera
The airport pair was last served by Czech flag carrier CSA, as it then was, between August 2004 and August 2009. It mainly used the A320, but also the A310-300. Kuwait Airways served Prague until September 2004. Image: GCMap.

Jazeera Airways begins Prague

On June 22nd, Jazeera Airways began Kuwait to Prague. Based on summer 2019 figures, it was Prague's largest unserved in the Middle East. Supplementing point-to-point demand, Jazeera also offers easy two-way connections across South Asia.

Read more: Prague Welcomes 6 New Airlines This Year

With flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the summer-seasonal route will end on September 28th. It is operated by Jazeera's A320neos rather than its ceos, reducing fuel consumption and expenses and improving route economics. The first rotation deployed 9K-CBD, a 2.5-year-old aircraft. The schedule is as follows, with all times local:

  • Kuwait-Prague: J937, 08:20-12:45 (5h 25m block time)
  • Prague-Kuwait: J938, 13:30-19:35 (5h 5m)

Prague is one of a handful of new routes for Jazeera this year. In January, it began Chittagong, followed by Bhairahawa, Nepal's second international airport, in May. On June 16th, Salalah took off, followed less than a week later by Prague. And on June 23rd, the day of writing, Vienna started. Separately, Wizz Air will begin Vienna-Dammam in September.

Kuwait to Vienna Jazeera
The airport pair was last served by Czech flag carrier CSA, as it then was, between August 2004 and August 2009. It mainly used the A320, but also the A310-300. Kuwait Airways served Prague until September 2004. Image: GCMap.

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Prague's sixth Middle East city

Prague is linked non-stop to Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, and Tel Aviv this summer. Until late May, there were also flights to Salalah. (I've excluded Turkey, but if you'd like to include it, there are four destinations beyond the Bosphorus: Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Antalya, Bodrum, and Izmir.)

Of the six, Tel Aviv, some 1,638 miles (2,636km) away, is very much number-one. The latest schedule information from OAG shows that it has 43% of Prague's Middle East flights this summer, with four airlines offering non-stop service.

Jazeera Airways Kuwait to Prague launch
Those celebrating the launch included Jitka Hemmerova, center, Prague Airport's Airline Marketing Manager. Photo: Prague Airport.

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Prague's eighth Middle East airline

While Czech Republic's Smartwings has the most flights to the Middle East, Jazeera has become the eighth airline from that region to serve Prague. In April this year, Saudi Arabia's flynas launched service from the country's capital, Riyadh, which was Kuwait's second-largest unserved market. Between now and the end of summer, there are the following:

  1. Arkia: from Tel Aviv, 3x weekly; variously by the A321neo, E195, and wet-leased B737-800/A320
  2. El Al: from Tel Aviv, up to 8x weekly; B737-900ER/B737-800
  3. Emirates: from Dubai, 1x daily; B777-300ER
  4. flydubai: from Dubai, 1x daily; B737 MAX 8
  5. flynas: from Riyadh, 3x weekly; A320neo
  6. Israir: from Tel Aviv, up to 4x weekly; A320
  7. Jazeera: from Kuwait, 2x weekly; A320neo
  8. Qatar Airways: from Doha, 1x daily; A320ceo (one B787-8 on August 26th)

Ryanair served Amman from Prague between October 2018 and March 2020, then from June 2021 until March 2022. It'll return on October 30th, the first day of the 2022 Northern Hemisphere winter season. Elsewhere, Czech Airlines served Beirut until early 2020, with up to a 1x daily operation. Will it return?

Which new routes would you like Prague to have? Let us know in the comments.