Prime Minister steps in to speed up Kuwait Airways' action

Sheikh Jaber - pictured right - headed a cabinet meeting today to discuss the financial and administrative position of the troubled airline.

The airline has been in decay since the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and the theft of its fleet by the Iraqis which led to the recently resolved court actions.

Kuwait government had given the airline a potential clear balance sheet to open the way for a public flotation (IPO), but there has been criticism about the time is taking for the airline to get back to its feet.

According to the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, the meeting discussed procedures that would support the company in its bid to upgrade its fleet and fulfill its operational and service-related obligations. The attendees raised a number of proposals on the best means to solve the company's predicaments.”

Industry analyst Saj Ahmad said that the talking has to stop and action has to be taken.

“Kuwait Airways has sat on the side-lines of the GCC region for too long. Its rivals and competition have billions of dollars' worth of new airplanes on order and in service, coupled with a huge surge in traffic flowing to the region while Kuwait Airways languishes in its weak existence,” he said

“Even new jet orders today would not help the carrier as these would take time to deliver and induct. One near-term option is to strike a strong codeshare pact with the likes of Qatar Airways or Emirates. Indeed, even an alignment with Jazeera Airways would deliver significant revenue and passenger numbers.

 “What is evident though, is that while the Kuwaiti powers-that-be do a lot of talking about the struggling airline, they aren't doing anything tangible to rescue it from the quagmire it has been stuck in for almost two decades now. There is no "Gulf War" to blame this time for its inept situation.”