Jazeera Airways gives away 50,000 free flights to frontline workers

The Kuwaiti airline is saying thank you to those battling the country's coronavirus pandemic

Kuwait's Jazeera Airways is giving away 50,000 free flights to workers battling the coronavirus.

Kuwait's largest private airline is offering 50,000 free round-trip flights to frontline workers who have been battling the country's Covid-19 pandemic.

Jazeera Airways wants to say thank you to these workers by flying them to a destination of their choice. The free tickets are redeemable to any place in the airline's network of 30 destinations, which includes London, Georgia, India, Turkey, Nepal and the UAE.

It's estimated that the total value of the tickets will be around 5 million Kuwaiti dinar (Dh59.6 million).

Eligible professions include healthcare staff, security staff and other civil workers who will be nominated by their ministry. Tickets can be booked via the airline once the country reopens to commercial flights, and travel can take place anytime between then and the end of 2021.

"The tickets will be distributed to frontline individuals as directed by our esteemed government,"  says Marwan Boodai, chairman of Jazeera Airways.

In its efforts to help fight the pandemic, Jazeera Airways has been flying repatriation flights to bring Kuwaiti citizens who are stranded overseas, home. These flights have operated from the UAE, the UK, Poland, Russia Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. To date, the airline has operated more than 60 repatriation flights and brought home 6,800 Kuwaitis.

The airline has also converted its Park & Fly facility at Kuwait International Airport into the country's first drive-through Covid-19 testing centre. Technical teams from the airline also assisted in setting up a similar facility at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City.

Kuwait currently has 27,762 cases of Covid-19. On Saturday, May 30, the country moved from a 24-hour lockdown to a 12-hour curfew.