Jazeera Airways (J9, Kuwait) says it has submitted a Letter of Intent to the Kuwaiti authorities over its planned acquisition of a 35% stake in Kuwait Airways (KU, Kuwait). The stake is the maximum permissible shareholding a single private investor may hold in the national carrier as prescribed under local law.
"As witnessed in airline privatization exercises over the last 50 years, we believe an efficiently run Kuwait Airways with a private sector management approach benefits all stakeholders, especially employees who will be presented with an opportunity to transform and grow the airline into one that travelers seek as a first choice rather than a last resort," Marwan Boodai, chairman of the Low Cost Carrier, said.
In November last year, local logistics firm, Agility, announced its own intentions to secure the minority stake in the carrier as part of an expansion drive into the aviation services sector.
The Kuwaiti parliament passed legislation in early 2013 allowing for the national carrier to be privatized. Once the process has been completed, local private investors will hold a 35% stake, government 20%, Kuwait Airways employees 5%, with the remaining 40% to be allocated to Kuwaiti citizens.
