KUWAIT
\nState-owned Kuwait Airways has slashed its loss by nearly half in 2022 as passenger revenue surged amid the airline\u2019s continuing transformation plan.
\nThe carrier narrowed its loss for the 2022 fiscal year to 55 million Kuwaiti dinars ($178.6 million) from a loss of 107 million dinars recorded in 2019, state-run Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported, quoting Kuwait Airways chairman Ali Al Dukhan.
\nTotal passenger revenue rose 11 per cent year-on-year to 289.1 million dinars in 2022 as the airline carried 3.5 million people, 2 per cent more than the previous fiscal year, the chairman said after the airline\u2019s annual general meeting on Sunday.
\nLoad factors, a measure of how well an airline fills available seats, rose to 69.7 per cent in 2022, an increase of two per cent year-on-year. The number of flights rose 5 per cent on an annual basis to 25,000 flights.
\n\u201cKuwait Airways achieved actual better-than-expected results in 2022,\u201d Mr Al Dukhan said.
\nThe improved results come as air travel demand has risen sharply with passengers travelling abroad for holidays and corporate employees returning to in-person meetings with overseas clients after a pandemic-induced travel lull.
\nThis bounce-back was evident in aviation earnings last year and the first half of 2023, when many airlines in the Middle East and worldwide reported higher profits and healthier balance sheets.
\nThe global airline industry\u2019s annual profit forecast for 2023 more than doubled on higher travel demand and lower jet fuel prices in the first half of the year, although economic and geopolitical risks continue to loom over the outlook.
\nThe industry is expected to collectively earn $9.8 billion in net income this year, up from a December forecast of $4.7 billion, the International Air Transport Association said in June.
\nKuwait Airways plans to break even in the fiscal year 2024. The carrier, which was established in 1954, has not posted a profit since Iraq\u2019s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, according to Bloomberg data.
\n\u201cThis is one of the first years where we have positive cash flow at Kuwait Airways, and this is part of our efforts to reduce our debt,\u201d Maen Mahmoud Razouqi, the airline\u2019s chief executive, said at the AGM.
\nThe airline, which currently serves 58 destinations and operates 105 flights per day, is forecast to carry 5.5 million passengers this year, Mr Razouqi said.
\nThe carrier in July posted a record number of monthly passengers, carrying 485,000 people last month, its chairman said.
\nKuwait Airways has so far taken delivery of 12 new jets, with 17 more coming in 2024 and 2025, he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KUWAIT State-owned Kuwait Airways has slashed its loss by nearly half in 2022 as passenger revenue surged amid the airline\u2019s continuing transformation plan. The carrier narrowed its loss for the 2022 fiscal year to 55 million Kuwaiti dinars ($178.6 million) from a loss of 107 million dinars recorded in 2019, state-run Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-350827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n