Imperial Airways, the defunct British airliner, once flew over Kuwaiti skies

Its first flights in Gulf region dated back to 1929: historian

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7, (KUNA): Back in the early to mid-1900s, Kuwait was one of the many stops for the Imperial Airways, which covered destinations in Europe, South Africa, India, and the Far East.

Established in March 31, 1924, the long-range commercial airliner functioned until its operations ceased on Nov 24, 1939.

In a research published in the “letters of Kuwait”, revealed that the Imperial Airways’ first flights in the Gulf region dated backed to 1929, adding that this was followed by the establishment of the Cairo-Basra route.

The route was meant as a transit for the airliner on the way to Australia, said Abdulghani.

He indicated that Kuwait was not considered initially as part of the Imperial Airways’ stops; however, the then Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the British Gulf Residency struck an agreement, which led to the inclusion of the country in the airliner’s regional stops.

The British residency requested from Kuwait that the Imperial Airways would not be asked to pay for landing fees, a request granted by the Amir Sheikh Ahmad.

On Oct 18, 1932, Kuwait saw the first historical landing of an Imperial Airways plane on its soil, an event witnessed by the Amir and Lieutenant Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson – British administrator in the Middle East – and many people.

The airstrip was located behind one of the gates of Kuwait’s protective wall. The Imperial Airways continued flights to Kuwait, leading to the construction of a 60 square foot rest area for travels awaiting their flights.

By 1935 and after the signing of the civil aviation agreement between Kuwait and the Airways, flights doubled to Kuwait with more departing and arriving flights.

In January of 1938, the airways halted its flights to Kuwait due to economic reasons and by the advent of WWII, the Imperial Airways ceased its operations.