Kuwait Airways is restarting scheduled service to another important destination. The airline will resume flights to New York JFK starting September 11th with a return flight the following day. This is one of many destinations the carrier has started flying to again in the past few months. New York is considered a key destination for most airlines, and Kuwait Airways is hoping to benefit from this route as well.
Once a week to JFK
Kuwait Airways will connect Kuwait City with New York once a week on Saturday with a return flight on Sunday. Here are the flight details according to the carrier’s website:
Onward flight to New York on Saturdays
Flight no: KU117
Departure: 07:00; Arrival: 13:15
Flight duration: 13:15 hours
Return flight to Kuwait City on Sundays
Flight no: KU118
Departure: 19:15; Arrival: 14:25
Flight duration: 12:10 hours
Apparently, the airline will alternate between two kinds of aircraft for this route. According to Kuwait Airways’ booking engine, the maiden flight to New York on September 11th will be made on a Boeing 777-300ER, and the following week an Airbus A330-200 will be deployed on the same route.
While entry into Kuwait remains heavily restricted, Kuwait Airways hopes that this route will help travelers use the airline’s growing network for flight connections to other destinations.
Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.
Rebuilding network
New York is one of many destinations the carrier has started flying back to. Since mid-June, Kuwait Airways has launched 12 destinations, including London, Sarajevo, Paris, Geneva, Frankfurt, and Cairo.
The Kuwaiti government has been gradually allowing flights to resume since the middle of 2021. Since June 13th, Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has allowed direct flights to the UK. This came after six months of suspension, beginning January 6th following a surge of COVID infections in the UK.
The Indian subcontinent has traditionally been a huge market for Kuwait Airways. As reported by the Kuwait Times, the airline has relaunched flights to 11 destinations in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Some of the cities the carrier will cover in the region include Mumbai, Kochi, Delhi, Chennai, Lahore, Dhaka, and Colombo.
However, it’s important to note that several restrictions are still in place for entry into Kuwait. For months now, the Kuwaiti government has capped the daily arrivals into the country to 5000, with some speculation that it could be increased to 7500. Standard COVID-related protocols are also in place, such as vaccination status and PCR tests. Also, at the moment, Kuwaiti citizens and close relatives are given priority over others to enter the country.
Fleet to handle future demands
As reported by Simple Flying earlier, Kuwait Airways has a modern fleet of mostly Airbus airplanes, including two rare A330-800 aircraft. Only 15 of such type have been ordered, with Kuwait Airways being the biggest customer, ordering eight. The aircraft has an impressive range of 8,150 nautical miles (15,094 km), which places the carrier comfortably to expand its network further.
Other widebodies in its fleet include the Boeing 777-300ER and the Airbus A330-200, both of which it plans on using to serve New York. It has also ordered five A350-900 airplanes, but they’re not expected to be delivered anytime soon.
The carrier’s narrowbody fleet is made up entirely of the A320 aircraft, six of which are neos. The airline deploys them on shorter routes, such as Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
With the announcement of its New York flight and other destinations, and a fleet to support such plans, Kuwait Airways seems all geared up to expand its network again.