115% growth in “Kuwait Airways” revenues in 2022.. and losses shrink to 55 million dinars | Gulf newspaper

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Airways, Ali Al-Dukhan, stated, Thursday, that the company’s revenues increased last year by 115% compared to 2021, and increased by 10% from 2019 before the start of the pandemic that exhausted airlines.
He indicated during a press conference that the company recorded net losses estimated at 55 million Kuwaiti dinars ($180.26 million) in 2022, compared to losses of 107 million dinars in 2019.
He stressed that the company still expects to reach the point of parity between profits and losses by the end of 2024, despite the rise in oil prices, disclosing that the annual fuel cost to the company amounted to 130 million dinars.
Airbus deal
The company, which has recorded successive losses over the years, hopes to change a major deal to buy planes it announced in February with Airbus from its current path, bringing it to profit in 2025 and expanding to reach new destinations.
And Kuwait Airways announced in February that it had increased the size of a previous order from Airbus from 28 aircraft to 31 aircraft, in a deal worth three billion dollars.
The new order included the purchase of nine Airbus A320neo, six A321neo, three A321neoLR, four A330-800neo, seven A330-900neo and two A350-900.
The amendment came at the time to give the company more flexibility by increasing the number of narrow-body aircraft, in addition to saving about $200 million.
Al-Dukhan said, on Thursday, that the company intends to operate new routes to Athens, Barcelona, ​​Berlin, Budapest, and the Saudi cities of Al-Ula, Taif and Qassim in 2023.
ALAFCO assets
Kuwait Airways owns 9.9% in Alafco to finance the purchase and leasing of Kuwaiti aircraft, which accepted an offer from Macquarie to buy a group of Alafco assets for $2.215 billion.
Al-Dukhan said, commenting on the deal, that Kuwait Airways opposes the procedures through which it was carried out, considering that from a commercial point of view, it is “inadequate.”
The deal relates to 53 aircraft from ALAFCO’s portfolio, in addition to the transfer of an order book dated in 2012 with Boeing for the purchase of twenty Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft.
Kuwait Finance House, the largest Islamic bank in the country in terms of assets, owns 45.5% of Alafco, 14% of the Gulf Investment Corporation, and 8.5% of the Public Institution for Social Insurance.
(Reuters)