Kuwait Airways to add 31 Airbus aircraft in $6b deal
Despite ‘rumours’ and ‘scepticism’, flag carrier plumps for Airbus offer, says chairman
Dubai: Kuwait Airways has signed a $6 billion deal with Airbus to purchase 31 new aircraft. The flag carrier has already paid 40 per cent of the deal’s value, Sky News Arabia has reported.
“We have managed to agree on a monumental restructuring that will position Kuwait Airways in a much stronger place to succeed for the next 15 years,” chairman Ali Al Dukhan said.
The agreement includes nine Airbus A320neo, six A321neo, three A321neo LR, four A330-800neo, seven A330-900neo and two A350-900.
“To be frank, I was skeptical about Airbus’ way of dealing, mainly because of rumours surrounding past deals with Kuwait Airways,” Al Dukhan said. “We entered four months of serious, professional negotiations, which did get heated at times, but always maintained respect and understanding of each other’s wants and needs.”
In 2014, Kuwait Airways ordered 15 Airbus 320neo and 10 Airbus 350, with delivery beginning in 2019. In February 2020, Kuwait’s parliament opened a fact-finding panel to probe allegations of kickbacks, after Airbus paid huge fines to settle bribery cases in French, British and American courts.