Jazeera Airways takes delivery of first new Airbus A320

Jazeera Airways received its first aircraft during an official ceremony at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France. The ceremony was attended by members of Jazeera Airways executive team, officials from Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, guests, and members of the international and Arab press.

Chairman and CEO of Jazeera Airways, Marwan Boodai, said at the ceremony: "This is the first aircraft to be received by Jazeera Airways, the first private (non-subsidized) airline in Kuwait and the Middle East. That in itself makes today a historical day not only for Jazeera Airways, but also for Kuwait and the Middle East aviation sector."

He added: "Receiving the aircraft is the last building block of our airline, and I now look forward to receiving our guests starting from our October 30th flight to Dubai from Kuwait".

Airbus President and CEO Gustav Humbert said: "It gives us a great pleasure to hand over the first Airbus A320 to our customer Jazeera Airways. We wish Jazeera Airways a successful launch and we hope our partnership will grow together with the growth of this young and ambitious airline".

Carrying the Kuwaiti flag, the aircraft is the first of a confirmed fleet of four brand new Airbus A320 aircraft to be delivered to Jazeera Airways. The second aircraft is scheduled for delivery in November, whereas the remaining two aircraft are scheduled for delivery in June 2006.

As the first 100% privately funded airline in Kuwait, Jazeera Airways is set to break the country's 50 year monopoly of the air travel sector with its scheduled start of operations on the 30th of this month.

Jazeera Airways operates on a low-fares business model and looks to benefit from increased operational efficiency by building a fleet of the same type of aircraft, the Airbus A320. The brand new Jazeera Airways aircraft accommodates 165 seats, all leather-fitted, and is powered by two CFM56-5B engines.

Empowering Travellers

Jazeera Airways' innovative business model combines the efficiency of a low fares airline with highest quality of service and comfort. The airline is poised to change the face of air travel in the Kuwait and Middle East with its commitment to its vision of empowering travellers with full control over their travel experience - from booking channels available 24/7 where travellers can choose their own seats, to choice of food which can be purchased on board.

The airline has recruited a team of international aviation experts and has invested heavily in latest booking and payment technology, fully electronically integrated operations and a ticketless model.

"We have teamed up with the best partners in the industry like Airbus and Navitaire electronic booking engine to achieve highest level of efficiency and offer a unique proposition that empowers people travelling to and from Kuwait", said Boodai.

Jazeera Airways has hired the world leader in aircraft engineering - the German Lufthansa Technik to look after its new fleet in partnership with Jazeera Airways engineers. The airline is no less demanding when it comes to quality of its team, only hiring pilots with minimum experience of 5000 hours flight time (the equivalent of approximately 6700 flight from Kuwait to Bahrain, 480 flights from Kuwait to Dubai, or 2500 flight from Kuwait to Beirut).