Jazeera Airways Picks Airbus With 28 New A320 Family MOUs

Kuwait's Jazeera Airways has placed an MOU with Airbus at the Dubai Air Show for 28 new A320 jets. Before the air show, reports suggested that the budget carrier was in talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy as many as 30 Airbus A320neo or Boeing 737 MAX jets in a deal worth up to $2 billion.

Simple Flying can now confirm that the airline, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Airbus for eight A321neos and 20 A320neos with the European planemaker. A statement from Airbus issued today says that the MoU was signed by Jazeera Airways Chief Executive Officer Rohit Ramachandran and Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International Christian Scherer.

The MOU will double Jazeera Airways fleet

When speaking about the decision to purchase plans from Airbus Jazeera Airways, Chairman Marwan Boodai said:

"Jazeera Airways is pleased to extend its long-term relationship with Airbus further with this significant new order. We will effectively double our current fleet size to 35 aircraft by 2026. The airline has pulled out of the pandemic strongly in Q3 with a return to profitability. We have exciting expansion plans ahead, which will further boost our contribution to the Kuwait economy and, in particular, the travel sector."

Airbus and Jazeera Airways signature — The new Airbus MOU will more than double Jazeera Airways' fleet. Photo: Airbus

In reply to this, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International Christian Scherer said:

"We are proud to extend our partnership with Jazeera Airways through this latest agreement which will add an additional 28 Airbus aircraft to its all-Airbus fleet. The A320neo Family is, without doubt, the best platform to support Jazeera Airways' growth plans. This is the perfect illustration of how Airbus helps escort the growth of its successful customers."

Rohit Ramachandran, CEO of Jazeera Airways, added:

"By taking both A320neo and A321 neo options, we will have great flexibility to extend our network to medium and longer-haul destinations from Kuwait, offering passengers more choice to travel and enjoy popular destinations as much as underserved ones."

Jazeera Airways has its own dedicated terminal

Since its launch in 2005, Jazeera Airways has grown to become Kuwait's second-largest airline and is one of the leading airlines operating out of Kuwait International Airport (KWI). Initially focused on linking destinations in the Middle East from Dubai International Airport (DXB), the UAE government asked the airline to terminate operations from Dubai so that its new budget airline FlyDubai would not have competition. Jazeera Airlines immediately changed its business plan and decided to use Kuwait International Airport (KWI) as its central hub.

Jazeera Airways 9K-CBB Airbus A320-251Neo

Photo: Anna Zvereva via Wikimedia

Regarded as being the first owned, built, and operated terminal by a private airline Jazeera Airways opened its own dedicated terminal at Kuwait International Airport in 2018.

In 2019 Jazeera Airways launched its first flight from the Gulf state to London, marking the first new service between the two destinations in 55 years. In February 2021, the airline added Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to its growing list of destinations.