AirAsia has appointed the board of directors of AirAsia Bahrain and is targeting March 2027 for the start of flights to the kingdom, as conditions in the region allow.

The board will be chaired by Serra Kirdar, with Fam Lee Ee as vice-chairman. The other members are Faisal Khalid Kanoo, Nawaf Al-Zayani, Akram Safa, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Jamaludin Ibrahim. All seven are non-executive directors. Capital A chief executive Tony Fernandes said the board met for the first time on 1 November in Manama.

Capital A, AirAsia's former parent, has also been awarded a golden licence by the Bahraini government. Fernandes said the company would soon begin applying for an air operator certificate (AOC) for the new airline.

"While the geopolitical situation in the region has required us to adjust our initial plans, our commitment to Bahrain has not changed," said Fernandes, who is also an adviser to AirAsia Group. "We are here, and we are here for the long term."

The company plans to use Bahrain as a hub linking Asia with the Middle East, Europe and Australia.

Capital A's logistics arm Teleport has operated twice-weekly freighter services into Bahrain since February and is now scaling up capacity with larger freighter aircraft. Bahrain's transportation and telecommunications minister, Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, said Teleport had recorded double-digit arrivals of Boeing 747 freighters to date.

Capital A's engineering business, Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), intends to develop maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities in Bahrain that will serve AirAsia and other carriers in the region. The minister said the planned facility could comprise 14 maintenance bays, and that coordination with Bahrain Airport Company on its technical specifications is under way.

Fuel costs

Fernandes said higher oil prices would push up AirAsia's fares. "Oil makes up the biggest pie of our cost structure, and so it's unavoidable," he said.

He attributed the delay to oil price volatility, airspace restrictions and the need to stabilise the group's existing operations. "There was no point launching in Bahrain when we weren't stable. We are now stable," he said.

Fernandes declined to put a figure on the investment, saying it would depend on how many aircraft were deployed. He said the group has an order book of 354 Airbus A321 aircraft and has ordered 150 A220-300s, which are due from 2028.

Bahrain launched a national aviation strategy earlier this year that targets connections to 100 destinations by 2030. The minister said several new partnerships at Bahrain International Airport would be announced in the coming weeks.

Capital A signed a letter of intent with Bahrain's Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications in November 2025. In February, AirAsia announced plans to make Bahrain its Middle East hub. AirAsia X had planned to launch Kuala Lumpur to Bahrain flights, with onward connections to London Gatwick, from 26 June using Airbus A330 aircraft.