Kuwait Airways

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Kuwait Airways
الخطوط الجوية الكويتية
Former Kuwait Airways logo
Boeing 777-300ER of Kuwait Airways
IATA code : KU
ICAO code : KAC
Call sign : KUWAITI
Founding: 1954
(as Kuwait National Airways)
Seat: Kuwait City , KuwaitKuwaitKuwait 
Turnstile :

Kuwait airport

Home airport : Kuwait airport
Company form: State company
IATA prefix code : 229
Management: Rasha Abdulaziz Al-Roumi ( Chair )
Number of employees: 3,735 (2007)
Frequent Flyer Program : Oasis Club
Fleet size: 28 (+ 25 orders)
Aims: international
Website: www.kuwaitairways.com

Kuwait Airways ( Arabic الخطوط الجوية الكويتية, DMG al-ḫuṭūṭ al-ǧawwiyya al-kuwaitiyya ) is the state-owned airline of Kuwait based in Kuwait City and based at Kuwait Airport . She is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization .

history

Kuwait Airways Boeing 707-300 in 1978

Kuwait Airways was born from an idea of ​​two Kuwaiti businessmen. It was founded in March 1954 as the first state airline in the Gulf region and began operations on March 16, 1954 under the name Kuwait National Airways . The current name was adopted in 1958 when the fleet was modernized.

In the 1970s, Kuwait Airways expanded its route network in the Middle East .

Society was badly hit by the Iraqi invasion of the second Gulf War in 1991. While Kuwait was occupied, the flight operations to Bahrain were avoided . After the end of the war the fleet was rearranged. However, the company posted losses every year until it finally turned a profit in 2000.

On August 29, 2007, the Kuwaiti lessor ALAFCO announced that the government had not signed the preliminary contracts for seven Airbus A320-200s and twelve Boeing 787-8s and that these originally ordered aircraft would not be delivered to Kuwait Airways. In September 2013 it was announced that another order for 15 Airbus A320neo and ten Airbus A350-900, which had been placed just a few weeks earlier, is also back on the agenda. Kuwait Airways is still considered to be in deficit and the fleet is partly obsolete, for example the Airbus A300, which is now rare in passenger service.

To rejuvenate the fleet, seven Airbus A320-200 and five A330-200 were leased first . On December 6, 2016, the first of ten Boeing 777-300ERs on order was delivered to Kuwait Airways. At the same time, a new corporate identity was introduced.

Destinations

Kuwait Airways operates scheduled flights from Kuwait to the Middle and Far East as well as Europe and North America . She is also responsible for the operation of government aircraft. In the German-speaking area , flights to Frankfurt am Main and Munich in Germany , Vienna in Austria and, in the French-speaking area, also to Geneva in Switzerland .

fleet

Airbus A320-200 of Kuwait Airways
Airbus A330-200 of Kuwait Airways

Current fleet

As of April 2020, the Kuwait Airways fleet consists of 28 aircraft with an average age of 4.4 years:

Scheduled flight operations

Aircraft type number ordered Remarks Seats
( First / Business / Eco + / Eco ) 		Average age

(April 2020)

Airbus A320-200 10 7 equipped with sharklets ; three inactive 130 (- / 20 / - / 110)
130 (- / 16 / - / 114) 		6.7 years
Airbus A320neo 3 12 - open - 0.4 years
Airbus A330-200 5 212 (17/30 / - / 165) 4.7 years
Airbus A330-800neo 8th Delivery expected in 2019 - open -
Airbus A350-900 5 Reduced from originally 10 orders to 5.
Boeing 777-300ER 10 334 (8/36/54/236) 3.1 years
total 28 25th 4.4 years

Government machines

As of October 2018, the government fleet operated by Kuwait Airways consists of ten business jets with an average age of 9.7 years:

Aircraft type number ordered Remarks
Airbus ACJ319 01 inactive
Airbus ACJ320 01 inactive
Airbus A340-500 02
Boeing BBJ3 01 with winglets fitted
Boeing 747-8I 01
Gulfstream V 04th
total 10 -

Former aircraft types

De Havilland Comet 4C operated by Kuwait Airways in 1964
Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C of Kuwait Airways in 1974

In the past, Kuwait Airways also operated the following types of aircraft:

Incidents

Kuwait Airways has not recorded any fatalities from accidents in its history, but there were casualties in two aircraft hijackings in the 1980s:

  • On December 4, 1984, an Airbus A300C4-600 with the registration number 9K-AHG was hijacked by four hostage-takers en route from Dubai to Karachi and forced to land in Tehran . After six days, the plane was finally stormed by Iranian security forces and the remaining, not previously released hostages were freed. However, two US hostages had already been killed on board by the kidnappers.
  • On April 5, 1988, a Boeing 747-200 with the registration number 9K-ADB was also hijacked en route from Bangkok to Kuwait City . The nine hostage-takers first forced a landing in Mashhad in Iran , but the machine was then supposed to fly on to Larnaka in Cyprus , where two of the hostages were killed as leverage. After a flight to Algiers a few days later, the kidnappers finally gave up.
  • During the forcible conquest of Kuwait by Iraq in the Second Gulf War , at least ten Kuwait Airways aircraft were stolen by Iraqi occupation forces and brought to Iraq. There were three Airbus A300s, five A310s and two Boeing 767s . The 767 ( 9K-AIB, 9K-AIB ) were flown to Mosul Airport on November 17, 1990 , as were the two Airbus A300s ( 9K-AHF, 9K-AHG ) later . Between late January and early February 1991, these four aircraft were destroyed in bombing raids by UN troops.

Discrimination

Kuwait Airways does not transport Israeli citizens. Arab Israelis are protesting against this practice because they too are affected.

  • The U.S. Department of Transportation publicly reprimanded the company in 2015 for discriminating against a Jewish Israeli citizen trying to book a flight from London to New York. He was turned away on the grounds that his passport was not recognized in Kuwait. A corresponding complaint by the passenger concerned was upheld by a US court. The airline responded with a counterclaim. Instead of a change, the company suspended its second flight to New York City via London .
  • Kuwait Airways has also stopped selling tickets for intra-European flights. A complaint is pending at the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) from an Israeli passenger who, presumably because of his nationality, did not issue a ticket for Kuwait Airways for a flight from Geneva to Frankfurt. Kuwait Airways claims that its ticket policy is to implement Kuwaiti law, which prohibits it from doing business with organizations, citizens or residents of Israel.
  • An Israeli living in Germany had an online ticket canceled with a reference that the flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok would be a stopover in Kuwait and that, according to Kuwaiti law, Israelis are not allowed to enter the country's territory. The Frankfurt am Main regional court dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Kuwait Airways could not be expected to violate the uniform law on the boycott of Israel. This law threatens violators with prison , hard labor, or fines . Politicians threatened the airline with the withdrawal of landing rights. The appeal before the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court confirmed the first instance judgment on September 25, 2018. The Foreign Office has now made representations to the Kuwaiti authorities. The Federal Ministry of Transport is examining legal steps.
  • In August 2018, Kuwait Airways paid compensation to an Israeli woman who, due to her nationality, was banned from a flight from London Heathrow to Bangkok in November 2017. The process was recorded by a surveillance camera at the airport. Opposition to public service for a person because of their nationality is prohibited under UK law.

See also

Web links

Commons : Kuwait Airways  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Flight International - "Directory: World Airlines", April 4, 2007.
  2. ↑ aero.de - Airbus and Boeing lose billions in order from Kuwait, August 29, 2007 ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - Kuwait Airways hesitates with A350 accessed on September 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ Airbus - Kuwait Airways begins fleet upgrade with first A320 Sharklet delivery, December 22, 2014 (English), accessed on January 23, 2017.
  5. ↑ Airbus - Kuwait Airways receives its first A330-200, June 25, 2015 (English), accessed on June 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ arabtimesonline.com - Kuwait Airways welcomes first of 10 Boeing 777-300ER, December 9, 2016 (English), accessed on January 23, 2017.
  7. ↑ kuwaitairways.com - Routemap , accessed on January 23, 2017.
  8. ↑ a b Kuwait Airways Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
  9. ↑ Airbus - Orders and Deliveries , accessed on October 26, 2018.
  10. ↑ a b Airbus - Kuwait Airways: newest customer for the A330neo, October 15, 2018 accessed on October 26, 2018.
  11. ↑ Airbus orders in March: Latam and Kuwait Airways want fewer A350s. In: aeroTELEGRAPH. April 9, 2020, accessed on April 11, 2020 (Swiss Standard German).
  12. ↑ planespotters.net - State of Kuwait Fleet Details and History (English), accessed on 26 October 2018th
  13. ↑ ch-aviation - Airline Information - Kuwait Airways (English), accessed on October 26, 2018.
  14. ↑ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher and others: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966 to 2007.
  15. ↑ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher and others: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
  16. ↑ Data about the airline Kuwait Airways in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on September 10, 2013.
  17. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report of the accident of April 6, 1962 in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 23, 2016.
  18. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report of the hijacking of December 4, 1984 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
  19. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report of the hijacking of April 5, 1988 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
  20. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report from 9K-AHG (as an example) in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 23, 2016.
  21. ↑ Israel Network - Kuwait Airways compensates Israeli, August 9, 2018, accessed August 10, 2018.
  22. ↑ Dietrich Alexander: Kuwait's airline doesn't want any Israelis on board. Die Welt / N24 Online , December 18, 2015, accessed September 27, 2016 .
  23. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - Kuwait Airways must stop over in Shannon, accessed on July 6, 2016.
  24. ↑ aero.de - Kuwait Airways discontinues intra-European flights, accessed on April 17, 2017.
  25. ↑ Jüdische Allgemeine - Blown out: Kuwait Airways continues to refuse to transport Israelis, March 23, 2017, Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  26. ↑ Complaint by an Israeli citizen against Kuwaiti airline dismissed. (PDF) November 16, 2017, p. 2 , accessed November 16, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Die Welt - Politicians threaten Arab airlines with deprivation of landing rights, December 29, 2017
  28. ↑ Frankfurt Higher Regional Court: Kuwait Airways does not have to transport German-Israelis . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed September 25, 2018]).
  29. ↑ Israel Network - Israeli Loses Litigation Against Kuwait Airways, September 26, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018.
  30. ^ Daniel Friedrich Sturm: Denied boarding of Israelis: Foreign Office intervenes in the Kuwait Airlines case . In: THE WORLD . November 17, 2017 ( welt.de [accessed December 9, 2018]).
  31. ↑ Federal government is examining the consequences for Kuwait Airways. Retrieved December 9, 2018 .
  32. ↑ Israel Network - Kuwait Airways compensates Israeli, August 9, 2018, accessed August 10, 2018.