KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways Serves No Alcoholic Beverages On Its Flights

Jazeera Airways K.S.C is a Kuwaiti airline with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. It operates scheduled services in the Middle East. Its main base is Kuwait International Airport.

The airline has grown since its launch to become Kuwait's second national airline and has been dynamic in popularising low-cost carriers in the Middle East.

Jazeera Airways is one of the largest operators at Kuwait airport, having handled a quarter of all aircraft movements and passengers at the airport during July 2009.

According to the July 2009 report issued by Kuwait Directorate General for Civil Aviation's, Jazeera Airways had the largest number of aircraft movement in the month with 1834 take-offs and landings, over passing the second largest carrier in aircraft movement by 4% .

In 2004 the Kuwait Government permitted the establishment of the non-governmental airline firm, essentially ending Kuwait’s 50-year-old dependency on Kuwait Airways. The 2004 Emiree Decree #89 established Jazeera Airways as the first airline to enter this newly liberalized industry.

Jazeera Airways raised its capital of KD 10 million (USD 35 million) through an initial public offering in Kuwait that was oversubscribed 12 times.

The capital was doubled to KD 20 million (USD 70 million) in 4Q 2007 by a second offering to existing shareholders. In May 2009, a share distribution of 10% effectively increased the capital to KD 22 million (USD 77 million).

About 26% of the airline is owned by two companies affiliated with the Boodai Group: Wings Finance (9%) and Boodai Projects (17%).

6-7% is also held by Jasem M. al-Mousa Trading, a company owned by a former Minister of Public Works in the first Kuwaiti government established after the end of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. About 17.5% is held by two real estate companies, and the rest is publicly held.

Jazeera Airways started operations on 30 October 2005 with a fleet of brand new Airbus A320 aircraft, all leather seats, flying to several destinations in the Middle East.

In Q2 2009, UAE authorities requested the airline to terminate its hub operations at Dubai. This step was seen as a support to Dubai's upcoming launch of its own low-cost airline, FlyDubai.

Jazeera changed its operation model by concentrating on its Kuwait hub and trying to launch a second hub somewhere else. By Q2 2010, the new model proved unprofitable as the Kuwait hub suffered from overcapacity.

The airline changed its plans by cancelling many stations and parking some aircraft which were later returned to lessor.

In 2018, Jazeera Airways opened their own dedicated terminal at Kuwait International Airport. The facility is claimed to be the first owned, built and operated by a private airline in the Middle East.

It features a dedicated check-in hall for Jazeera passengers, Business Class lounge, direct access to Jazeera boarding gates, and a car park with 350 spaces connected by a sky bridge.

Jazeera Airways flies to destinations across the Middle East from its base in Kuwait. Since 2018, the company has expanded its available routes as below:

Azerbaijan

Baku - Heydar Aliyev International Airport

Bahrain

Manama - Bahrain International Airport

Egypt

Alexandria - Borg El Arab Airport

Assiut - Assiut Airport

Cairo - Cairo International Airport

Luxor - Luxor International Airport

Alexandria - Borg El Arab Airport

Hurghada - Hurghada International Airport

Luxor - Luxor International Airport

Marsa Alam - Marsa Alam International Airport

Sharm El Sheikh - Sharm El Sheikh International Airport Seasonal

Sohag - Sohag International Airport

Georgia

Tbilisi - Tbilisi International Airport

India

Ahmedabad - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport

Delhi - Indira Gandhi International Airport

Hyderabad - Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

Kochi - Cochin International Airport

Mumbai - Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

Iran

Isfahan - Isfahan International Airport

Mashhad - Mashhad International Airport

Shiraz - Shiraz International Airport

Tehran - Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport

Iraq

Najaf - Al Najaf International Airport

Jordan

Amman - Queen Alia International Airport

Kuwait

Kuwait City - Kuwait International Airport

Lebanon

Beirut - Rafik Hariri International Airport

Maldives

Malé - Velana International Airport

Oman

Muscat - Muscat International Airport

Salalah - Salalah International Airport

Pakistan

Lahore - Allama Iqbal International Airport

Qatar

Doha - Hamad International Airport

Saudi Arabia

Jeddah - King Abdulaziz International Airport

Medina - Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport

Riyadh - King Khalid International Airport

Ta'if - Ta'if Regional Airport

Sudan

Khartoum - Khartoum International Airport

Syria

Aleppo - Aleppo International Airport

Damascus - Damascus International Airport

Deir ez-Zor - Deir ez-Zor Airport

Turkey

Bodrum - Milas–Bodrum Airport

Antalya - Antalya Airport

Istanbul - Istanbul Atatürk International Airport

Istanbul - Arnavutköy International Airport

Istanbul - Sabiha Gokçen International Airport

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi International Airport

Dubai - Dubai International Airport

United Kingdom

London - London Gatwick International Airport (Begins 27 October 2019)

Yemen

Sana'a -Sana'a International Airport

The Jazeera Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:

9 - Airbus A320-200

1 - Airbus A320neo

The last of the A320s was delivered from Airbus on 9 January 2010.

The airline's fleet is powered by CFM56-5B engines. The airline has contracted Lufthansa Technik to maintain and service them. All Jazeera Airways aircraft are fitted with 165 leather seats, and split into two cabins: Jazeera and Jazeera Business.

When Jazeera business is offered, six seats are cancelled to provide 12 Plus seats in addition to 147 Economy seats.

Jazeera Airways ordered 30 Airbus A320s on 18 June 2007. This was announced at the Paris Air Show bringing its total orders up to 35 Airbus A320s.

During 2010, due to the airline's change of operation plans, several aircraft were parked, and eventually five were returned to lessor Sahaab which leased them to Virgin America and SriLankan Airlines.

In April 2011, Jazeera Airways canceled 25 of the 40 A320s it ordered in 2007. Jazeera will take delivery of four A320s still on order from 2012-2014.

In 2018, Jazeera Airways took deliveries of the first Airbus A320neo aircraft in the Middle East, and is putting the service on their Dubai route.

The airline offers business and economy class seating. The economy class seating has leather seats and shareable TV screens. Business class seats have leather seats and personal TV screens and two seats per row.

Jazeera Airways is one of the few airlines which doesn't serve alcoholic beverages on its flights.

On 2 August 2018, Jazeera flight (J9 608) from Kuwait caught fire in its right engine on landing at Hyderabad. All 145 passengers were evacuated safely and the fire was extinguished.

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