DUBAI: Kuwait’s international airport will resume commercial flights to 20 countries from August 1 in a three-stage re-opening, five months after it suspended operations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Flights will initially cover 8 countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon; six in Europe, including the UK, Germany and Switzerland; five in Asia, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and the Philippines; and to Ethiopia as the lone African destination, Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a statement. The government’s three-stage re-opening took into account the importance of adhering to preventive and precautionary health measures to protect travelers as well as airport staff, state news agency KUNA said. Each phase of restarting commercial flights will take six months. The first phase, which starts Saturday, will have Kuwait International Airport operating at 30 percent capacity – meaning it will handle no more than 10,000 passengers and 100 flights a day. The airport on second stage, which starts February 2021, will increase its capacity to 60 percent and will handle a maximum 20,000 passengers and 200 flights per day. The airport will then shift to full operations by August. Protocols put into place would include random check for arrivals, submission of travel requirements for destination countries, strict online or phone booking for ticket reservations and mandatory health insurance coverage for citizens to cover the treatment of coronavirus infections.