Kuwait Airways & ALAFCO sign aircraft selling, re-leasing deal
ADSB delivers landing craft to Kuwait on schedule
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 30, (Agencies): Kuwait Airways and the Aviation Lease and Finance Company (ALAFCO) signed a deal to sell and re-lease four 777-300ER aircraft.
ALAFCO is now the legal owner of the four aircraft and Kuwait Airways will be leasing the planes for 12 years, Kuwait Airways Chairman Sami Al-Rasheed said in a press statement on Wednesday.
Kuwait Airways is taking measures to reduce losses, boost financial performance, and develop services to become a top competitor in the regional aviation market, he noted.
The company aims to assign tasks such as maintenance, engineering services and air cargo to other independent companies in order for Kuwait Airways to focus mainly on aviation, Al-Rasheed said.
The company needs a period of five years to gain profits, said the chairman, adding that the company succeeded in regaining the confidence of its former clients and attract growing numbers of new clients.
On his part, ALAFCO’s assistant marketing manager Suleiman Al-Mudhaf said the company aims to increase its fleet to reach 100 aircraft by 2020. With the new agreement, ALAFCO’s fleet went up to 63 aircraft, he added.
Kuwait Airways is one of the oldest aviation companies in the Gulf. It was established in 1953 as a private company under the name “Kuwait National Airways”, before the Kuwaiti government ceased full ownership of the company in 1962.
Aviation
ALAFCO was established in 2000 and was enlisted in Kuwait bourse in 2006. The company offers services that include aircraft selling and leasing, marketing and investment in aviation.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) has reached another key landmark in its ongoing project to build vessels for the Kuwait Navy, with the formal acceptance of the landing craft Sabhan into service as part of the agreement signed with Ministry of Defense of Kuwait in 2015. The delivery ceremony, held at Kuwait Navy Base, was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al Hamad Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Mohammed Al-Khader, Chief of General Staff of Kuwait’s Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Sheikh Abdullah Al Nawaf, Deputy Chief of General Staff of Kuwait’s Armed Forces, along with a number of senior officers from the Kuwait Ministry of Defence and ADSB’s chief operations officer, Engr Yaser Al Falahi.
The Sabhan is the first of three landing craft of the same design that ADSB is building for Kuwait. The two remaining vessels in the series are on track to be delivered in October this year. In total ADSB has a contract to build eight vessels for Kuwait, six of which are now in service, having been delivered earlier than scheduled.
Dr Khaled Al Mazrouei, Chief Executive, ADSB, said: “In the two years since we signed the contract with the Ministry of Defence of Kuwait we have delivered state-of-the-art ships with the latest technology, without ever missing a deadline. This demonstrates our adaptability to the growing complexities and efficiencies needed for competitive shipbuilding and asserts our position as the Middle East’s leading shipbuilder.” ADSB has also recently built landing craft for the navies of the UAE and some other GCC countries.
Signing ceremony of aircraft agreement between Kuwait Airways and ALAFCO.