Bahrain’s flagship carrier, Gulf Air, has suspended its services to Nairobi for "commercial reasons", a statement said.

The last flight to Kenya will take off on November 12 with it returning to Bahrain the following day, said the statement.

"Gulf Air understands the inconvenience this may cause and apologises to passengers affected by the suspension," it said.

"A dedicated customer services team from the Gulf Air World Wide Contact Centre has been set up and is contacting passengers affected in the next seven days to offer alternative options."

The announcement was made on the same day the airline said it was unable to resume flights to Iran because the Iranian civil aviation authorities were slow to approve flight schedules.

It is understood the airline plans to resume services to Iran by the beginning of next year.

Passengers with confirmed tickets to Nairobi will be refunded, but bookings that have not been paid for yet will be automatically cancelled, added the statement.

"Gulf Air will endeavour, where possible, to transfer the booking/ticket to an alternative available airline to the same destination in the same class of travel, subject to availability of seats," it said. – TradeArabia News Service