Jazeera Airways K.S.C () is a Kuwaiti low-cost airline with its head office on the premises of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. It operates scheduled services in the Middle East, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Europe. Its main base is Kuwait International Airport. The airline has grown since its launch to become Kuwait's second national airline.

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 1,834 take-offs and landings, 4% higher in terms of aircraft movement than the second-largest carrier. The capital was doubled to KD 20 million (US$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 (US$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 in Dubai. This step was seen as a support to Dubai's upcoming launch of its own low-cost airline, FlyDubai. Jazeera Airways 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 their lessors.

Destinations

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

thumb|A Jazeera Airways Airbus A320 aircraft

In October 2019, Jazeera Airways launched its first flight to London, bringing the first new service from Kuwait to the UK in 55 years. It operated the flight to London Gatwick Airport's South Terminal with its newest A320neo aircraft. This service has now been terminated.

On 24 February 2021, the airline started flying to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Dedicated terminal

In 2018, Jazeera Airways opened its 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, a business class lounge, direct access to Jazeera boarding gates, and a car park with 350 spaces connected by a sky bridge.

Fleet

, Jazeera Airways operates the following aircraft:

thumb|A Jazeera Airways [[Airbus A320-214 aircraft in 2018]]

thumb| A Jazeera Airways [[Airbus A320neo aircraft]]

{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse;text-align:center;margin:auto;"

|+ Jazeera Airways fleet

|-

!rowspan="2"|Aircraft

!rowspan="2"|In service

!rowspan="2"|Orders

!colspan="3"|Passengers

!rowspan="2"|Notes

|-

!<abbr title=Business>C</abbr>

!<abbr title=Economy>Y</abbr>

!Total

|-

|rowspan="2"|Airbus A320-200

|rowspan="2"|13

|rowspan="2"|&mdash;

|12

|147

|159

|rowspan="2"|To be replaced by Airbus A320neo family.

|-

|&mdash;

|165

|165

|-

|Airbus A320neo

|11

|18

|12

|150

|162

|Order with 5 options.<br />Deliveries began in 2018.<br />To replace older A320ceo aircraft.

|-

|Airbus A321neo

|&mdash;

|8

|colspan="3"|<abbr title="To Be Announced">TBA</abbr>

|Deliveries expected to begin in 2023.

In 2018, Jazeera Airways took delivery of the first Airbus A320neo aircraft in the Middle East and employed it on their Dubai route.

In September 2019, Jazeera also planned to order the A321LR. They also started their longest A320 family route which is 6 hours from its hub in Kuwait to London Gatwick.

Cabins

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 does not serve alcoholic beverages on its flights.

Accidents and incidents

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.

References

  • Official website