Kuwait Airways (KU, Kuwait) expects the first of seven A330-900Ns it has on order to be delivered in the third quarter of 2024, as long as there are no further delays of new Airbus aircraft, the airline's chief executive Maen Razouqi recently revealed.
“The promise from our partner Airbus is that there should be no delays on that type. We will keep our four A330-800Ns and will not replace them with the larger-variant A330-900, even though the -900 will offer a better economic footprint. The -900 will give us the capacity we need,” he told aviation vlogger Sam Chui.
Several of the incoming A330s will be configured in a high-density configuration to use for destinations like Manila Ninoy Aquino International, with more economy-class seats, he added.
The four new A330-800s that Kuwait Airways now operates “will be an enabler for us to get nonstop from Kuwait to North America,” Razouqi said. They “will take us to New York JFK on better margins.” JFK is the Kuwaiti carrier's only destination in North America, with 7x weekly frequencies using B777-300(ER)s, the ch-aviation capacities module shows.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, besides the A330neo, the airline currently operates ten of the B777s as well as five A330-200s, seven A320-200Ns, and eight A320-200s, with two more A320neo, nine A321-200N, and two A350-900s on order.
Kuwait Airways’ future fleet will be based on a 60:40 narrowbody to widebody ratio, the CEO said. The first A321neo should arrive by the end of 2024 and could be deployed to Manchester International or Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.
Razouqi elaborated: “We are also exploring potential additional aircraft from the market. But this is a separate exercise.” However, he made no mention of the freighters the carrier is expecting over the coming year.
