Kuwait International Airport
Encyclopedia
Kuwait International Airport is located in Farwaniyah, Kuwait
, 15.5 kilometres (9.6 mi) south of Kuwait City
. It serves as hub
for Jazeera Airways
and Kuwait Airways
. A portion of the airport complex is designated as Al Mubarak Air Base, which contains the headquarters of the Kuwait Air Force
, as well as the Kuwait Air Force Museum.
Kuwait International Airport can currently handle more than seven million passengers a year. A new general aviation terminal was completed in 2008 under a BOT scheme and is operated by Royal Aviation. By the end of 2008, however, this terminal was modified to handle the scheduled services of now-defunct Wataniya Airways
along with general aviation traffic. The terminal was renamed as Sheikh Saad Terminal.
On October 3, 2011, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced that a new Foster + Partners-designed terminal will begin construction in 2012 and will increase the annual passenger handling amount to 13 million passengers in its first phase with the option of expanding to 25 million passengers. The airport has finalized formalities for the construction of the terminal, which is due to begin construction in 2012 with completion by 2016. It would be built to the south of the current terminal complex with new access routes from the Seventh Ring Road to the south of the airport compound. It is designed as a three-pointed star, with each point extending 600 meters from the star's center. Two airside hotels will form part of the new building.
The current airport is currently given a rating of three stars by Skytrax
's airport grading exercise along with seven other airports.
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, 15.5 kilometres (9.6 mi) south of Kuwait City
Kuwait City
-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...
. It serves as hub
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...
for Jazeera Airways
Jazeera Airways
Jazeera Airways K.S.C is a low-fare airline with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. It operates scheduled services to the Middle East and Europe. Its main base is Kuwait International Airport...
and Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways is the national airline of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, from its...
. A portion of the airport complex is designated as Al Mubarak Air Base, which contains the headquarters of the Kuwait Air Force
Kuwait Air Force
The Kuwait Air Force is the air arm of the State of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Al Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defence Brigade, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base...
, as well as the Kuwait Air Force Museum.
Structure
The airport underwent a massive renovation and expansion project from 1999–2001, in which the former parking lot was cleared and a terminal expansion was built. This incorporated new check-in areas, a new entrance to the airport, the construction of a multi-storey parking structure, and an airport mall.Kuwait International Airport can currently handle more than seven million passengers a year. A new general aviation terminal was completed in 2008 under a BOT scheme and is operated by Royal Aviation. By the end of 2008, however, this terminal was modified to handle the scheduled services of now-defunct Wataniya Airways
Wataniya Airways
Wataniya Airways was a publicly traded company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, Wataniya Airways' hub was the exclusive Sheikh Saad Terminal in Kuwait while its corporate headquarters in Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. The airline was founded in 2006 and received an...
along with general aviation traffic. The terminal was renamed as Sheikh Saad Terminal.
On October 3, 2011, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation announced that a new Foster + Partners-designed terminal will begin construction in 2012 and will increase the annual passenger handling amount to 13 million passengers in its first phase with the option of expanding to 25 million passengers. The airport has finalized formalities for the construction of the terminal, which is due to begin construction in 2012 with completion by 2016. It would be built to the south of the current terminal complex with new access routes from the Seventh Ring Road to the south of the airport compound. It is designed as a three-pointed star, with each point extending 600 meters from the star's center. Two airside hotels will form part of the new building.
The current airport is currently given a rating of three stars by Skytrax
Skytrax
Skytrax is a United Kingdom-based consultancy, the public face of Inflight Research Services, which has the largest airline and airport review and ranking site. It conducts research for commercial airlines...
's airport grading exercise along with seven other airports.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Airport statistics
2006-2011| Year | Commercial Aircraft | Non-Commercial Aircraft | Passengers | Freight (in metric tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 50,213 | 21,508 | 6,053,094 | 166,292 |
| 2007 | 56,987 | 26,574 | 6,910,309 | 176,203 |
| 2008 | 61,512 | 26,408 | 7,226,345 | 180,090 |
| 2009 | 78,597 | 19,963 | 8,125,747 | 197,213 |
| 2010 | 79,350 | 14,927 | 8,332,857 | 208,295 |
| Jan-Sep 2011 | 53,217 | 9,967 | 6,461,374 | 146,531 |
Accidents and Incidents
- A Douglas DC-6 belonging to Yemen Airlines was hijacked by one person on 25 August 1973 during a flight from Taiz to Asmara. After making a refueling stop in Djibouti, the aircraft was taken to Kuwait where the hijacker surrendered.
- On 17 December 1973, a terrorist attack on Rome's Fiumicino airport ended by the terrorists hijacking a Lufthansa Boeing 737-100 that was preparing to depart to Munich. The aircraft was taken to Kuwait where the hijackers surrendered one day later.
- A Middle East AirlinesMiddle East AirlinesMiddle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...
Boeing 707 was hijacked by one person during a flight from Beirut to Baghdad on 5 June 1977. The ordeal ended in Kuwait by storming the aircraft and arresting the hijacker. - Two hijackers demanding money surrendered after hijacking a Kuwait AirwaysKuwait AirwaysKuwait Airways is the national airline of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, from its...
Boeing 737-200 during a flight from Beirut on 24 July 1980. - On 2 August 1990, British Airways Flight 149 carrying 349 passengers landed at Kuwait International Airport just four hours after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, leading to the capture of the passengers and crew. The Boeing 747-100 aircraft was looted by the Iraqis and destroyed. All passengers and crew were reported safe. A McDonnell Douglas DC-9 belonging to the Kuwait Air Force was also destroyed in the airport. It is believed that during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait many of the planes belonging to Kuwait AirwaysKuwait AirwaysKuwait Airways is the national airline of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, from its...
were stolen from the airport and stored in different locations in Iraq, some of which were later destroyed by allied bombings in 1991. - On 10 December 1999, three US military personnel died when a USAF Lockheed C-130 Hercules made a hard emergency landing at Kuwait International Airport after sustaining damage from landing short of the runway at nearby Jaber al-Ahmad Airbase.