Kuwait Airways said that it is progressing steadily towards profitability, with the company cutting its losses in half compared to 2019.
“The positive figures and results confirm the progress of the national carrier at a steady pace towards development and excellence,” said Ali Al-Dukhan, the chairman of Kuwait Airways, during the airline’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the fiscal year that ended on December 31, 2022.
“This is in addition to a significant leap in the technical, professional, and administrative fields, applying innovative work methods, as well as investing in the human element, and creating an attractive environment for professional competencies,” Al-Dukhan added.
Al-Dukhan also highlighted that the carrier’s losses were reduced by 50% compared to 2019. While its net loss was KWD107 million ($347.3 million) in 2019, it was KWD55 million ($178.5 million) in 2022.
In addition to loss reduction, Kuwait Airways said it completed “many achievements” during the period, with the airline’s chairman highlighting an agreement with Airbus to restructure the carrier’s fleet, increasing it from 28 to 31 aircraft. The Kuwaiti airline has already received some of the aircraft, with the remainder due to be “received in the coming years”. The carrier provided little additional detail in its AGM announcement.
Airbus’ Orders & Deliveries filings for July 2023 show that Kuwait Airways has nine Airbus A321neo, seven A330-900neo, and two A350-900 aircraft on order. The airline also said that it has extended the leases for seven Airbus A320s for an additional year, allowing it to operate the aircraft until 2024.
Currently, Kuwait Airways operates a fleet of 35 aircraft, including eight Airbus A320, eight A320neo, five A330-200, four A330-800neo, and 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, according to ch-aviation.com data. In addition, it also operates five business jets, namely one ACJ319, two ACJ340, one BBJ737-900, and one BBJ747-8I, on behalf of the Kuwait Air Force.
“Furthermore, the MTOW feature was added for the aircraft to carry additional weight, and the agreement is the beginning of the phase of increasing the narrow body aircraft over the wide body, thereby increasing the flexibility of movement and deployment,” Al-Dukhan continued.
In total, the airline earned KWD289.1 million ($938.4 million) in revenue, with the airline carrying 3.5 million passengers with an average load factor of 69.7%.