Kuwait Airways (, ) is the flag carrier of Kuwait, wholly owned by the government of Kuwait. Its head office is situated on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, from its main base at Kuwait International Airport.
History
The carrier traces its history back to 1953, when Kuwait National Airways was formed by a group of Kuwaiti businessmen; initially, the government took a 50% interest. That year, a five-year management contract was signed with British International Airlines (BIA), a BOAC subsidiary in Kuwait that operated charter flights and provided maintenance services. Two Dakotas were bought, and operations started on 16 March 1954. The carrier transported 8,966 passengers in its first year of operations. In July 1955, the name Kuwait Airways was adopted. In May 1958, a new contract for management and operation was signed, directly with BOAC this time. BIA was taken over by Kuwait Airways in April 1959.
On 8 August 1962, Kuwait Airways became the first foreign customer to order the Trident when two aircraft of the type were acquired, and an option for a third was taken. The deal was valued at £5.5 million, and also included a Comet 4C. At the same time, the carrier also had a £3 million order in place for three BAC One-Elevens, with an option for a fourth. The airline took delivery of the first Comet of its own in January 1963, but Comet operations had started in July the previous year with an aircraft on lease from MEA. In August 1963, a second Comet was ordered. The delivery of this second airframe established an unofficial record in early 1964 when it flew between London and Kuwait, a distance of , at on average. On 1 June 1963, the government increased its participation in the airline to 100%. In March 1964, the carrier added its first European destination to the route network when flights to London were inaugurated using Comet equipment; from that time, services between London and some points in the Middle East, including Abadan, Bahrain, Beirut, Dhahran, Doha and Kuwait, started being operated in a pool agreement between the carrier and BOAC and MEA. A month later, the airline absorbed Trans Arabia Airways.
In April 1965, the route network had expanded to include Abadan, Baghdad, Bahrain, Beirut, Bombay, Cairo, Damascus, Doha, Frankfurt, Geneva, Jerusalem, Karachi, London, Paris and Tehran. At this time, the fleet comprised two Comet 4Cs, three DC-6Bs, two Twin Pioneers and three Viscount 700s; the carrier had two Trident 1Es and three One-Elevens pending delivery. The first Trident was handed over by the aircraft manufacturer in March 1966, and the second followed in May the same year. In the interim, a third aircraft of the type was ordered. On the other hand, the One-Elevens were never delivered: in January 1966, the carrier stated that the simultaneous introduction of both types of aircraft was not possible due to a tightened budget, and postponed their delivery; it was informed late that year that the airline would not take them. Three Boeing 707-320Cs were ordered in November 1967. The carrier made its first profit ever in 1968, with a net income of £910,000.
During 1972, Kuwait Airways' fifth consecutive profitable year, the airline had a net profit of £2.9 million. By May 1973, the fleet had reduced to five Boeing 707-320C aircraft. That year, flights to Colombo were launched. In March 1975, Faisal Saud Al-Fulaij, who employed 1,800, was the corporation's chairman. In a deal worth million, two additional ex-Pan American Boeing 707-320Cs were subsequently purchased that year, with the first one entering the fleet in May. The carrier ordered its first Boeing 737 that year, slated for delivery in February 1976. Kuwait Airways became the Boeing 727's worldwide customer in 1979 when it ordered three of these aircraft for delivery in late 1980 and early 1981.
By July 1980, chairmanship was held by Ghassan Al-Nissef, the number of employees had grown to 5,400 and the fleet comprised eight Boeing 707-320Cs, one Boeing 737-200, three Boeing 747-200Bs and one JetStar; three Boeing 727-200s were pending delivery. In mid 1980, six Airbus A310-200s were ordered to replace the Boeing 707s on routes to Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with deliveries starting in 1983; five more A310 aircraft were added to the order late that year.
After India's air market was deregulated in 1992, Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air participated in the formation of Jet Airways, each holding a 20% equity stake, with a total investment estimated at million. Following the enactment of a law that banned the investment of foreign carriers in domestic Indian operators, both airlines had to divest their shareholding in the Indian company. Kuwait Airways' 20% stake in Jet Airways was sold to the chairman Naresh Goyal for million.
In July 1996, the carrier modified a previous order that included Boeing 747 aircraft, and placed an order worth million for two Boeing 777-200s, with purchase rights for another aircraft of the type. The operation made Kuwait Airways the customer of the type worldwide. The airframer handed over the first Boeing 777-200 in early 1998. In December 1998, a code-share agreement was signed with Trans World Airlines to begin in the spring of 1999.
In October 2007, the new CEO pledged that the airline should be privatised to compete efficiently against other airlines. He says that the airline will encounter difficulty in advancing, especially in fleet renewal, without privatisation.
Flights to Iraq were resumed in November 2013; Kuwait Airways had discontinued services to the country in 1990 following the invasion of Kuwait. After a 17-year hiatus, the carrier resumed flying to Munich in July 2015. Also in July 2015, the airline restarted flights to Istanbul-Atatürk; the city had not been served for three years. Bangalore was added to the carrier network in October 2015.
Kuwait Airways faced allegations of discrimination for refusing to sell tickets to Israeli passport holders on certain routes, prompting a U.S. Department of Transportation investigation that ordered the airline to stop denying transport to Israeli citizens on U.S.-related international routes. In response, the airline cited Kuwaiti law, discontinued its JFK–London service in 2015, and later won a 2017 German court case upholding its right to deny Israeli passport holders transit through Kuwait.
Corporate affairs and identity
Ownership Kuwait Airways is wholly owned by the government of Kuwait, .
Privatisation plans Privatisation started being considered in the mid 1990s, in a period that followed the Gulf War when the carrier experienced a heavy loss on its assets. The company was turned into a corporation in 2004. A draft decree for its privatisation was approved by the government on 21 July 2008. Plans were to sell up to 35% of the stake to a long-term investor and another 40% allotted to the public, whereas the government would hold the remaining 25%. These plans also contemplated the exclusion of domestic carrier competitors, such as Jazeera Airways, as potential bidders. Furthermore, the government also committed to keeping the workforce invariant for at least years and those who were not to be retained would be offered the opportunity to be transferred to other government dependencies without altering their salaries and holding similar working conditions.
In 2011, the privatisation committee valued the carrier at million, following advice by the Citigroup, Ernst & Young and Seabury. The process was expected to be concluded by March 2011. However, in October that year, the committee recommended the airline to go through a reorganisation process before continuing with the privatisation programme, something that was approved by Kuwait Council of Ministers. The privatisation draft was amended and the government signed a contract with the International Air Transport Association for the provision of consultation expertise. The law for the privatisation of Kuwait Airways Corporation was passed in January 2013.
Key people , Abdulmohsen Salem Alfagaan holds the position as chairman.
Headquarters The Kuwait Airways headquarters is located on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. The head office was built for 15.8 million Kuwaiti dinars (US $ 53.6 million). Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Co. served as the main contractor. The headquarter was constructed from 1992 to 1996. The construction of the head office was the first time that structural glazing for curtain walls was used in the State of Kuwait. The previous headquarters was on the grounds of the airport."World Airline Directory." Flight International. 14–20 March 1990. 100.
Subsidiaries and alliances
Kuwait Airways has several subsidiaries that are going through a similar privatization process as KAC. Kuwait Aviation Services Co. (KASCO) Automated Systems Co. (ASC, شركة الأنظمـــــة الآلية,الأنظمة) GDS provider since 1989 ALAFCO
Kuwait Airways also went into alliances with several airlines to keep up with demand and to continue its operations during the 1990 war. Shorouk Air (ceased operations in 2003) Jet Airways (India, temporarily suspended) Trans World Airlines (began 1 December 1999 with codeshare between JFK and Chicago to Kuwait City)
Livery The airline revamped its livery on 23 October 2016, updating the stylised bird logo.
Destinations
Kuwait Airways is based at Kuwait International Airport; the airline flies 65 routes that serve 63 destinations, .
Codeshare agreements
Kuwait Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
Aegean Airlines Air Europa Etihad Airways Ethiopian Airlines ITA Airways Middle East Airlines Oman Air Saudia SriLankan Airlines Thai Airways International Turkish Airlines
Interline agreements Kuwait Airways has interline agreements with the following airlines:
Air Canada Air China Air Europa Air India American Airlines APG Airlines Asiana Airlines Bangkok Airways Biman Bangladesh Airlines Cathay Pacific China Airlines Deutsche Bahn EgyptAir Etihad Airways Ethiopian Airlines Gulf Air Emirates ITA Airways Kenya Airways Korean Air LOT Polish Airlines Lufthansa Malaysia Airlines Middle East Airlines Nepal Airlines Oman Air Qatar Airways Royal Air Maroc Saudia Singapore Airlines SriLankan Airlines Thai Airways International Tunisair Turkish Airlines United Airlines
Fleet
Current fleet , the Kuwait Airways fleet includes the following aircraft:
+ Kuwait Airways fleet Aircraft In service Orders Passengers NotesTotalAirbus A320-2004—colspan="5" Airbus A320neo9——12—122134Airbus A321neo15—16— 150166Deliveries from March 2025Airbus A321LR—3TBA169Airbus A330-2001—colspan="5" Airbus A330-8004——32—203235Launch customer.Airbus A330-90061—32 21225278Deliveries from December 2024.Airbus A340-500/6001—colspan="5" Airbus A350-900—2TBA326Boeing 777-300ER10—83654236334Total3611
Former fleet