Everything about Kuwait Airways totally explained
Kuwait Airways (
Arabic: الخطوط الجوية الكويتية) is the
national
airline of
Kuwait, based in
Kuwait City and wholly owned by the Kuwaiti Government. It operates scheduled international services throughout the
Middle East, to
Europe, the
Far East and
North America. Its main base is
Kuwait International Airport. Kuwait Airways is a member of the
Arab Air Carriers Organization.
History
The airline was conceived in February
1953 by two Kuwaiti businessmen and was established in March 1954. It started operations on
16 March 1954 as Kuwait National Airways. The current name was established in
1958, and that year saw a modernization of the fleet. In the
1970s, the airline further expanded its routes to include flights within the Middle East.
The airline was heavily affected by the
Gulf War with many planes having to leave due to the invasion. During the occupation, operations were transferred to Bahrain. The carrier, however, flew a free Kuwait Airways service on the
Bombay-
Bahrain-
Cairo-
London route in a modified livery with a
Boeing 727. Bahrain served as operational headquarters during the occupation. The aftermath of the war saw a change in composition of fleet. In
2005, Kuwait Airways signed an agreement with
Sabre Airline Solutions giving Kuwait Airways full access to a modernized planning and crew optimizing portfolio.
Kuwait Airways was the first airline created by an Arab state in the Persian Gulf and competes with neighboring airlines such as
Qatar Airways and
Emirates Airline.
The airline has 3,735 employees (at March
2007).
Hijackings in the 1980s
- During the Iran-Iraq War, Kuwait Airways was the target of two hijackings. The first was in 1984, when two Lebanese Shi'a gunmen diverted a flight to Tehran. The stand-off took six days but finally Iranian security officers dressed as staff overpowered the hijackers.
- In 1988 a Kuwait Airways Boeing was hijacked and diverted to Algiers while on its way to Kuwait from Bangkok. The hijacking lasted 16 days and ended with a Kuwaiti firefighter being killed along with another Kuwaiti military person. This occurred when the plane stopped in Cyprus for 2-3 days and the government of Cyprus didn't achieve 2 save the two persons killed. Then it moved to the Algeria and their demands where satisfied and released the 110 people.
Destinations
see full article: Kuwait Airways destinations.
Codeshare agreements
Beijing operated through Air China.
Athens operated through Olympic Airways.
Kiev operated through Ukraine International Airlines.
Fleet
The Kuwait Airways fleet includes the following aircraft (as of May 2007):
As of 18 June 2007, ALAFCO has confirmed to buy 7 Airbus A320 and 12 Boeing 787-8. They will be leased to Kuwait Airways. In addition, the carrier also announced that it'll purchase 2 Boeing 747-400 from Air India. These aircraft are 12 year old planes. Air India may also give Kuwait Airways 3 Airbus A310-300, which are 18 to 20 years old, as the former is replacing most of its Airbus fleet with a new Boeing fleet.
This order later fell through as the Kuwaiti Government refused to the approve the renewal. The new CEO says that he doesn't expect a renewal to occur until the airline is privatised.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kuwait Airways'.
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