KUWAIT, May 19 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) Chairman and Managing Director Hamad Al-Falah on Wednesday announced that the airline plans to launch further flights to Beirut , Damascus, Cairo and Geneva to honore rising demand over the summer period.
Talking to reporters, he said the airline is set to launch 20-22 additional flights to Beirut, 29 to Damascus, 95 to Cairo and one more to Geneva.
These extra flights come in response to heavy demand over the summer period, and the company is set to rent a wide-bodied aircraft to fulfill its obligation towards customers, he said.
On the latest developments surrounding the privatization of the state airline, Al-Falah revealed that a tender is set to be prepared to choose a consultancy firm that will carry out a restructuring of the airline's workforce.
KAC staff are currently in talks with these consultants to determine their eligibility, he added.
KAC employees will have the option of continuing with the company for a period no less than five years, retiring while receiving three-years advance pay, or moving forward to another job in the public sector.
Asked on the recurrent delay of KAC flights, he said the airline's planes are old and for this reason require extensive maintenance before takeoff. In this case, he said, the airline prefers to be late in order to ensure a 100 percent safety of the aircraft.
Al-Falah said the company had losses of KD 19 million for the 2009-2010 financial year, in addition to an unexpected amount of KD 36 million, which he attributed to high fuel prices and other unanticipated expenses. - Kuna