Manama: Kuwait's government is moving ahead with "long-due" plans to privatise its national airline, Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC).
The government's decision on Monday was made following a marathon session that reviewed results of KAC condition assessment on the basis of studies, conducted by specialised international consultancy agencies.
Dr Bader Mohammad Al Sa'ad, managing director of the Public Investment Authority (PIA), told Kuwait news Agency (Kuna) that the necessary steps for the launch of the new shareholding company were reviewed during the session alongside the necessary steps for the implementation of Law 6/2008 on turning KAC into a shareholding company.
The government also discussed a recommendation by the economic affairs committee on the privatisation of the airline, and approved "in principle" the cabinet draft on the rules and executive measures in Law 6/2008.
According to Kuna, the cabinet tasked KIA with completing the legal procedures to transform the corporation into a shareholding company under the name of Kuwaiti Airways Corporation.
Enhancement
Kuwait Airways officials have been for years pressing for its privatisation, saying that the airline might not resurrect its enhancement programme until after it is sold.
Several MPs have also been calling to turn Kuwait Airways, the oldest airline company operating in the Gulf, into a shareholding company where the government will not have a majority stake.
The MPs said that the move aimed at reducing losses, enhancing services, modernising the fleet and improving performances.
Al Qabas daily said that the government was "determined to close the file of the privatisation process before the end of February to meet the privatisation deadline".
"The deadline was in December 2009, but the law allows the cabinet to stretch it by two months," the newspaper said.
Kuwait Airways flies to 44 destinations in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America from its hub at Kuwait International Airport. It has around 6,000 employees.
Earlier this month, Abdul Salam Al Bahr, the chairman of Wataniya Airways, a Kuwaiti private airline, said that the law does not allow his company to buy shares of Kuwait Airways when they are up for sale.
