Kuwait Airways
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| Founded | 1953 (as Kuwait National Airways) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 16 March 1954 | ||||||
| Hubs | Kuwait International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Oasis Club | ||||||
| Fleet size | 35 | ||||||
| Destinations | 34 | ||||||
| Company slogan | Earning Your Trust | ||||||
| Headquarters | Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait | ||||||
| Key people | Rasha Al-Roumi (Chairperson and CEO) | ||||||
| Website | www |
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Kuwait Airways (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية الكويتية, Al-Khutout Al-Jawwiya Al-Kuwaitiyah) is the national airline of Kuwait, with its head office 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. Kuwait Airways is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.
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 in ordering 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 had also 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 2,888 miles (4,648 km), at 461 miles per hour (742 km/h) 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.
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Wikipedia