Direct flights from Bahrain to five new destinations in Southern and Eastern Asia could soon be established, it has been revealed.

Bahrain Airport Company chief executive Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah told the Gulf Daily News (GDN) yesterday (May 31) that they were in talks with airlines across the region to try and establish the new routes.

"Nepal is one, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and China are the others," he said.

"We are talking to the airlines (but) we are just talking at the moment - I don't want to give any false expectations because route development takes time.

"We start at first by presenting the business case as to why an airline should consider flying to Bahrain - and then we progress from there."

Al Binfalah was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day international aviation summit, Routes Middle East and Africa, which opened yesterday at the Gulf Hotel under the patronage of Transportation and Communication Minister Kamal Ahmed.

He explained that beyond establishing new routes, plans are also underway to increase flight frequency to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.

"We have countries that are underserved (with flights from Bahrain)," said Al Binfalah.

"There is connectivity right now but definitely there is room for more, either through the national carrier or through national airlines that are in those countries - that is the potential that we see."

Bahrain International Airport is not just focusing on its passenger routes either, but is also actively trying to increase cargo carrier routes too, according to Al Binfalah.

"We are working very closely with the Transportation and Communication Ministry and the Economic Development Board to assess the airports' potential in regard to logistics and cargo," he said.

"Out of the three new airlines we attracted last year, one of them was a cargo airline - that's 33 per cent, which is quite promising." - TradeArabia News Service