Kuwait Airways is the full-service flag carrier for the country of Kuwait. While the airline garners far less attention than its neighboring Gulf counterparts, it still operates a modern widebody fleet. Part of this includes the rare Airbus A330-800 and, in the future, will also include the Airbus A350-900 sometime in this decade.
The Kuwait Airways fleet at a glance
First, let’s take a look at the composition of the airline’s fleet as a whole. The aircraft types are listed below with quantities in parentheses:
- Airbus A320-200 (7)
- Airbus A320neo (6)
- Airbus A330-200 (5)
- Airbus A330-800 (2)
- Boeing 777-300ER (10)
As you can see from the list, the airline is quite Airbus-heavy. Kuwait Airways has always been a mix of the two manufacturers- but in terms of sheer numbers of jets, Airbus aircraft have always been more plentiful in the fleet.
The airline once operated Boeing 767s and 747s but has historically operated a fair number of Airbus A300s (10) and Airbus A310s (16).
The largest operator of the rarest A330
As already mentioned, one of the more interesting aspects of the Kuwait Airways fleet in 2021 is the presence of the Airbus A330-800. This jet is quite a rare bird at the moment, with only 15 of the type having been ordered thus far. Kuwait Airways “dominates” these orders, having signed for eight of the shorter A330neo variant.
To date, the airline has taken delivery of just two of these jets. However, a third A330-800 is on the way, with final test flights recently being conducted.
The aircraft has a lower capacity than the more popular -900 but offers an extended range of 15,094km or 8,150 nautical miles.
It’s possible, although not guaranteed, that more A330-800s will be ordered in the future by other airlines, as the older size-equivalent (the A330-200) is slowly phased out. This is exactly what Kuwait Airways is doing- although it still operates the -200, which still has a fairly low average age.
The other widebodies
The core of the airline’s high-capacity, long-haul fleet is its 10 Boeing 777-300ERs. Before the crisis, Kuwait Airways would operate the jets to destinations as far away as New York JFK.
While the aircraft is capable of long-range, intercontinental missions, Kuwait Airways has also deployed these on shorter services where its large capacity might satisfy demand. This has included cities like Istanbul and Beirut, where other carriers might opt to use the Boeing 737 (Turkish Airlines) and Airbus A320 (MEA), respectively.
The airline has also ordered the Airbus A350-900 – a deal that was made far back in 2013. While the carrier has sliced its order of 10 down to five, the status of the remaining five hasn’t been updated for some time. Data from ch-aviation.com states that the estimated delivery date for all five jets is in 2027. However, this is likely subject to change.
Have you flown with Kuwait Airways before? Share your experience with us by leaving a comment.
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