Dubai: Kuwaiti discount carrier Jazeera Airways said it will seek an alliance with a major operator based in Europe or Asia after plans to secure a stake in state-owned Kuwait Airways were frustrated.
Jazeera is likely to take at least six months to seal a deal, with flights starting in summer 2018, Chairman Marwan Boodai said. “We are looking at the BAs, Lufthansas and Singapores of the world, established airlines that have value,” Boodai said.
A partnership with a major carrier would be a “game-changer” for Jazeera, allowing a company that operates only regional routes and attracts 1.2 million passengers a year to tap a long-haul market from Kuwait of 6 million people annually, he said. Kuwait could also provide a European or Asian airline with a well-located base through which to feed inter-continental traffic, he said.
Jazeera Air, which had net income of KD15.4m ($51m) last year, is at the “initial stage” of reaching out to “reputable and well-positioned” airlines after its board approved the joint-venture plan, Boodai said, adding that taking a stake in unprofitable Kuwait Airways has ceased to be an option because of the flag carrier’s delayed privatisation process. “Jazeera Airways is more a hybrid,” Boodai said, referring to the business-class offering available on most of its routes, adding that the carrier wouldn’t be operating its own flights at the long-haul end of the market.
Dubai: Kuwaiti discount carrier Jazeera Airways said it will seek an alliance with a major operator based in Europe or Asia after plans to secure a stake in state-owned Kuwait Airways were frustrated.
Jazeera is likely to take at least six months to seal a deal, with flights starting in summer 2018, Chairman Marwan Boodai said. “We are looking at the BAs, Lufthansas and Singapores of the world, established airlines that have value,” Boodai said.
A partnership with a major carrier would be a “game-changer” for Jazeera, allowing a company that operates only regional routes and attracts 1.2 million passengers a year to tap a long-haul market from Kuwait of 6 million people annually, he said. Kuwait could also provide a European or Asian airline with a well-located base through which to feed inter-continental traffic, he said.
Jazeera Air, which had net income of KD15.4m ($51m) last year, is at the “initial stage” of reaching out to “reputable and well-positioned” airlines after its board approved the joint-venture plan, Boodai said, adding that taking a stake in unprofitable Kuwait Airways has ceased to be an option because of the flag carrier’s delayed privatisation process. “Jazeera Airways is more a hybrid,” Boodai said, referring to the business-class offering available on most of its routes, adding that the carrier wouldn’t be operating its own flights at the long-haul end of the market.
