Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways begins flying
Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways, the country’s first private airline, flew its first flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The low-fare airline’s maiden flight on Sunday will be followed by flights to Beirut, Bahrain, Damascus and Amman.
It plans to expand its destinations to Egypt and India.
Jazeera initially planned to start operations in February using two leased planes, but the airline decided to delay its launch until it received its own aircraft.
The company on Monday took delivery of one of four Airbus A320s. The second plane is to arrive next week, and the remaining two are scheduled for delivery in June.
Kuwait Airways is government-owned, but there are plans to privatise it.
Jazeera Airways was established as a shareholding company last year with a capital of 10 million dinars ($34 million).
Company chairman Marwan Boodai said the company was launched after 18 months of preparation.
“We are starting operations on schedule, with some flights booked at 80% capacity,” Boodai said in an announcement.