Amid the ongoing modernisation of its fleet, Kuwait Airways (KU, Kuwait) is reportedly in talks to acquire up to five dedicated freighters to take advantage of what it assesses as a buoyant air cargo market.
The loss-making Kuwaiti carrier intends to position itself as a regional player able to sustain itself with a fleet of 45 to 50 aircraft, CEO Maen Razouqi told Arabian Aerospace - a fleet of cargo and passenger jets. It currently has no freighters. In August, it pledged to start taking delivery of dedicated cargo aircraft in the middle of 2023.
In the restructuring of its orders with Airbus, in which it switched some A330-800s to A330-900s and added three A321-200NX(LR)s, it also cut an order for five of the passenger version of the A350-900 to two. Talks are now underway with the manufacturer to convert the remaining three to the A350F, Razouqi said.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the airline’s fleet currently consists of eight A320-200s, seven A320-200Ns, five A330-200s, four A330-800s, and ten B777-300(ER)s. On order are two more A320neo, nine A321neo, seven A330-900s, and the two A350s.
Razouqi recently told FlightGlobal that he believed Kuwait Airways could support up to five freighters. The carrier is in talks for the possible introduction of cargo aircraft, he confirmed, adding: “We don’t have a full freighter. We would take them tomorrow, because the market is there.”
The airline’s overall fleet plans are for a 60/40 narrowbody-to-widebody operation, with the incoming A321neo(LR)s as part of a revamp of its single-aisle fleet, Razouqi said.
