Kuwait Airways

Kuwait Airways

File:Kuwait Airways Logo.svg
IATA ICAO Call sign KU KAC KUWAITI
Founded	1954
Hubs	Kuwait International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	Oasis Club, Maraheb (new 2009)
Alliance	Arab Air Carriers Organization
Fleet size	21 (+67 orders)cancelled
Destinations	44
Headquarters	Kuwait City, Kuwait
Key people	Hamad Abdullatif Al-Falah, CEO
Website	http://www.kuwaitairways.com

Kuwait Airways (Template:Lang-ar) 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 the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America. Its main base is Kuwait International Airport. Kuwait Airways is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

History

On the wave of the oil boom of the 1940s, a national carrier was born in 1954. Initially, Kuwait Airways Company served a limited network of Abadan, Beirut, Damascus and Jerusalem but a year later the fledgling carrier was facing economic hardship, and the government of Kuwait took a 50% interest in the airline, subsequently doubling the company's capital. Having entered the rough and tumble world of aviation, the government finally took out 100% share in Kuwait Airways.

Kuwait Airways entered the jet age in 1962 by leasing a Comet 4-C, the world's first jet-engined airliner. In the 1960s, the national carrier rapidly expanded its route map, and scheduled services to London begun three times a week. To keep pace with fast-moving aviation needs, three Boeing 707s were delivered in 1968. Ten years later, Kuwait Airways had an all -Boeing 707 fleet of eight aircraft.

In 1978, Kuwait Airways entered the wide-body age by taking delivery of its first two B747-200s, adding a third the following year. This expansion permitted Kuwait Airways to extend its network to New York to the west and Manila to the east.

Modernization of the fleet continued, and four Boeing 727-200 were delivered in 1980-1981. Two years later eight Airbus A310 and Airbus A300-600 were delivered, and in 1986 three Boeing 767-200ER aircraft joined the wide-body fleet.

Following the destruction of its premises and 42 of its aircraft during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the airline was relaunched. Kuwait Airways fleet now comprises four A320-200, three A310-300, five A300-605R, five A340-300 and two Boeing 777-200ER, bringing the fleet to 20 aircraft, equipped with the oldest entertainment systems from the 90s.

Kuwait Airways aims to re-establish its network to reach more than 47 countries around the globe with a firm commitment to providing the finest service and comfort to passengers while continuing to rank safety as one of highest priorities.

Boeing 777-200ER

The airline has 5,915 employees (at March 2009).

In October 2007, the new CEO pledged that the airline should be privatised in order for it to compete efficiently against other airlines. He says that the airline will encounter difficulty in advancing, especially in fleet renewal, without the privatisation.

Hijackings in the 1980s

Boeing 747-400M taxis to the take off point at London Heathrow Airport, England.

• During the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait Airways was the target of two hijackings. The first was a London, England to Karachi, Pakistan flight on December 1st, 1984. The flight took off from London-Heathrow making a stop-over in Kuwait before continuing the journey to the final destination in Karachi, Pakistan. During the second part of the flight, two Lebanese Shi'a gunmen diverted the plane to Tehran. The hijackers were armed with guns and explosives and there was gunfire on the plane while it was in flight. The hijackers wanted to take the plane to Lebanon and negotiated the re-fuelling in exchange for all the women and children on the flight. The stand-off took six days but finally Iranian security officers dressed as staff overpowered the hijackers.
• In April 1988 a Kuwait Airways Boeing 747 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 two or three days, where the government of Cyprus was not able to save the two persons killed. Then it moved to Algeria where the hijacker's demands were satisfied and where the 110 remaining passengers were released.

Destinations

see full article: Kuwait Airways destinations.

As of September 2009, Kuwait Airways flies to 44 international destinations in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America from its hub at Kuwait International Airport. (Route Map)

Codeshare agreements

Airbus A340-300

• Addis Ababa operated through Ethiopian Airlines.
• Tunis operated through Tunisair.
• Abu Dhabi operated through Etihad Airways
• Kiev operated through Ukraine International Airlines

Fleet

The Kuwait Airways fleet includes the following aircraft (as of September 2009):

Kuwait Airways Fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Passengers (First/Business/Economy)	Entry into Service
Airbus A300-600R Failaka, Burghan, Wafra, Wara, Al-Rawdhatain	5	0	232 (18/18/196)	In Service
Airbus A310-300 Al-Jahra, Gharnada, Kadhma	3	0	198 (00/24/174)	In Service
Airbus A320-200 Bubbyan, Kubbar, Qurtoba, Al-Waha	4	0	130 (00/20/110)	In Service
Airbus A330-200 Al-Hareer	1	0	272 (32/24/216)	In Service
Airbus A340-300 Warba, Bayan, Al-Sabahiya, Al-Mobarakiya, Al-Riggah	5	0	264 (18/24/222)* 272 (18/24/230)	In Service
Boeing 747-400M Al-Jabriya	1	0	412 (36/36/340)	In Service for VIP, Cairo or London Operations
Boeing 777-200ER Al-Qurain, Garouh	2	0	267 (24/24/219)* 273 (24/24/225)	In Service
Total	21

^{*Only on direct flights to JFK from KWI and vice versa.}

Kuwait Airways has planned to be privatized in 2010. The A310-300 and A320-200 will be withdrawn and will be the replaced with seven new A320-200s and the new Boeing 787-8 in later 2011. Kuwait Airways had also planned to have more than 80 destinations from 2012.

External links

• http://www.kuwaitairways.com Kuwait Airways Official Website Template:En icon Template:Ar icon
• Stewardess uniform