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Over 100,000 Kuwaiti citizens elected to purchase shares in KNA at that time turning it into one of the most popular Kuwaiti shares to be held by Kuwaiti nationals.
Abdulsalam Al Bahar, Chairman and Managing Director for Kuwait National Airways, said:
"Many of the ambitious goals that were set when the company was established in 2006 were successfully accomplished in 2008. Chief amongst them was the inauguration of operations at the Sheikh Saad Terminal in May 2008 which is managed by our subsidiary Royal Aviation Company K.S.C.C.. Sheikh Saad Terminal, which provides a premium gateway to Kuwait, is also the operational base of Wataniya Airways, the premium airline that we launched in 2008 with the first flight successfully taking off in January 2009."
2008 saw many achievements for Wataniya Airways, including receipt of the Air Operator's Certificate (AOC), followed by the acquisition of route right permits to many destinations. The company entered into lease agreements for its fleet of A320 aircraft and is expected to have seven of these by 2010.
Wataniya Airways has invested in people and state of the art technology onboard the aircraft as well as in the back office, enabling the airline to take its place amongst the world's most modern and efficient airlines.
Despite the global liquidity crisis, KNA maintained a healthy cash position, ending the year with over KD14m in current assets, of which KD12m was cash. The end result was a loss of KD1.7m which can be entirely attributed to the massive investments that were made by Royal Aviation Company K.S.C.C in the launching of Sheikh Saad Terminal and by KNA in the establishment of Wataniya Airways.
KNA was listed on the KSE in December 2008. The company cemented its position as the gatekeeper at the aviation entry point to Kuwait also through majority ownership of UPAC, United Projects Company for Aviation Services K.S.C.C., which holds the BOT contract at Kuwait International Airport for the retail facilities and the car parks.
UPAC is the entity through which Kuwait National Airways holds ownership in Royal Aviation Company K.S.C.C as well as in the Discovery Mall, which is another unique real estate project which commenced operations recently.
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Posted by Siba Sami Ammari
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