Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways Begins Flying

KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways, the country’s first private airline, flew its first flight Sunday to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The low-fare airline will also fly to Beirut, Bahrain, Damascus and Amman. It plans to expand its destinations to Egypt and India.

Kuwait Airways is government owned but there are plans to privatize it.

Jazeera has taken delivery of one Airbus A320, and it expects to have three more by June. Jazeera Airways was established as a shareholding company last year with a capital of 10 million dinars ($34 million).

Company Chairman Marwan Boodai said the company was launched after 18 months of preparation.

“We are starting operations on schedule with some flights booked at 80 percent capacity,” Boodai said in an announcement.