Jazeera Airways K.S.C (Arabic: طيران الجزيرة‎) is a low-fare airline with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait.^[1] It operates scheduled services to the Middle East and Europe. 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 popularizing 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, overpassing the second largest carrier in aircraft movement by 4%.^[2]

History[link]

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.^[3] 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-Musa 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.^[2]

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.

Destinations[link]

Jazeera Airways flies to destinations across the Middle East from its base in Kuwait.

A Jazeera Airways aircraft parked at Dubai International Airport

Fleet[link]

The Jazeera Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of April 2011)^[4][5]:

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, equipped with In-flight Entertainment, and split into two cabins: Jazeera and Jazeera Plus. When Jazeera Plus is offered, six seats are cancelled to provide 12 Plus seats in addition to 147 Economy seats.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jazeera Airways

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v t e Airlines of Kuwait Domestic & international Jazeera Airways Kuwait Airways Wataniya Airways