Anyone flown by Kuwait Airways?
Anyone flown by Kuwait Airways?
Hey has anyone on this forums travelled by KU? If so kindly share your experiences....
I have....just joined the forum though.sn26567 wrote:Don't worry, jgp, most of our readers never travelled exotic (for us Europeans) airlines. But we are welcoming any experience with any of such airlines. Will you be the first?
They are fine - flown on them 4 times from Dubai to Kuwait and Kuwait to Bahrain, Dubai....not as good as Qatar or Emirates but certainly not as bad as some US airlines that I won;t mention. They lose a fortune every year but that could be down to giving you a 3 course meal on a 1.5 hr flight. Oh - and there is no alcohol - but I;m Scottish and can cope for 1.5 hrs so......
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flightsimboy
- Posts: 76
- Joined: 09 Apr 2004, 00:00
- Location: Toronto - Canada
Hello
I've flown on KU on these sectors
JFK-LHR-KWI-KHI v.v
CHI-AMS-KWI-KHI v.v
I'm almost tempted to write a report on KU..
Kuwait Airways is a good airline. Cabin crew are mixed and friendly. The first time I ever saw a seat back video it was on Kuwait Airways. The flights to and from the US were on the Airbus A340, a marvellous bird and handles turbulence so well, unlike it's rival the 744 that just gets bumped up and down
You can check out more details at http://www.geocities.com/flightsimboy
I've flown on KU on these sectors
JFK-LHR-KWI-KHI v.v
CHI-AMS-KWI-KHI v.v
I'm almost tempted to write a report on KU..
Kuwait Airways is a good airline. Cabin crew are mixed and friendly. The first time I ever saw a seat back video it was on Kuwait Airways. The flights to and from the US were on the Airbus A340, a marvellous bird and handles turbulence so well, unlike it's rival the 744 that just gets bumped up and down
You can check out more details at http://www.geocities.com/flightsimboy
Well, I kind of disagree on your comments toward how well the Airbus A340 handles turbulence. I have flown many times on the 777 and the A340 and the Boeing is hands down a better airplane handling turbulence. Somehow the wing of the 777 flexes much less than the 340 but I dont undersand why the 777 even though it has a rigid wing feels more confortable.
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flightsimboy
- Posts: 76
- Joined: 09 Apr 2004, 00:00
- Location: Toronto - Canada
I have been on all of these 744, 777, 340....and countless others and can't say I feel that one is better than an another in turbulence. The worst I had was a 767 - terrifying - but that is down to the weather and not theplane....don;t think you can compare because you can never replicate the weather! I still think turbulence is more common now than i remember as a kid. We used to travel to Dubai on BCal Dc10's, BA or GF tristars and old SQ 747's in the 80's and I don;t recall flights as bumpy as they have been the last 5 years....flightsimboy wrote:Notice I mentioned the 744 and not the 777. I have flown the 777 and have to admit it handles turbulence equally well
I flew Kuwait Airways once, a long time ago, was also my very first experience with a Middle Eastern airline. 
On January 4th 1981
Flight was KU 169
On board Boeing 707-369C / 9K-ACK "Khadma"
From Rome/FCO
To Geneva-Cointrin
The aircraft arrived from KWI and night stopped at GVA.
The flight lasted just over a full hour, and a full inflight service with a real dinner was provided for. We overflew Genoa. Except for trying to convince myself that accomodating the Veal Maringaux with some sodas the experience was pretty good
Should I would rate the flight, I go for a 7/10.
Alain
On January 4th 1981
Flight was KU 169
On board Boeing 707-369C / 9K-ACK "Khadma"
From Rome/FCO
To Geneva-Cointrin
The aircraft arrived from KWI and night stopped at GVA.
The flight lasted just over a full hour, and a full inflight service with a real dinner was provided for. We overflew Genoa. Except for trying to convince myself that accomodating the Veal Maringaux with some sodas the experience was pretty good
Should I would rate the flight, I go for a 7/10.
Alain
No problem.thnks SN26567
No alcohol on board.
In addition to FCO-GVA & vv and FCO-PAR & vv they also excercised traffic rights between Paris and London. I know someone who flew the 747 ORY-LHR and again somebody else who flew between CDG and FCO with an A300-600. Other mid-eastern airlines which had 5th freedom across Europe were Alia, Gulf Air; Iraqi, Iran Air and on a more limited scale Saudia (CDG-FCO & vv). On the other hand, MEA had nothing and experiencing their 707s and 720B was possible when Air Inter was on strike !!!
Alain
No alcohol on board.
In addition to FCO-GVA & vv and FCO-PAR & vv they also excercised traffic rights between Paris and London. I know someone who flew the 747 ORY-LHR and again somebody else who flew between CDG and FCO with an A300-600. Other mid-eastern airlines which had 5th freedom across Europe were Alia, Gulf Air; Iraqi, Iran Air and on a more limited scale Saudia (CDG-FCO & vv). On the other hand, MEA had nothing and experiencing their 707s and 720B was possible when Air Inter was on strike !!!
Alain
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flightsimboy
- Posts: 76
- Joined: 09 Apr 2004, 00:00
- Location: Toronto - Canada
KUWAIT AIRWAYS A340 KWI-LHR-JFK
KUWAIT AIRWAYS KWI-LHR-JFK
The Airbus A340 was already parked at the gate when our KU A320 was making a turn into the terminal area. Very soon, I would be on the A340 heading to LHR and JFK. And very soon I was sitting in the last seat on the right from where I could see an SV 747 making it's way to the runway. We pulled out of the gate and were soon making our way in the same direction as the 747 from where the graceful A340 raced down in the runway and in it's own graceful way climbed out of Kuwait International. The jet did not turn left or right but headed south west towards Saudi airspace to avoid flying over Iraq to the right. It seemed like a flight to Saudi Arabia, and just as I was beginning to think it was, the graceful A340 turned right and headed towards Jordan in the direction of Amman. We were served lunch and I was soon watching the inflight entertainment, Kuwait Airways being one of the first few airlines in the world at the time to have seat back videos. Time flew and soon we were making our descent into British Airspace. Fields of yellow were visible as we descended lower and lower and soon cows lay grazing below as we passed above and touched down to the smoothest landing ever. Some were even unaware we had landed, but were made to notice it when some cabin crew members in the back applauded gently for the captain's graceful touchdown. The crew were friendly, and smartly dressed in their KU colours as they went about their jobs. The food was good and enough, and the soft drinks flowed. No alcoholic beverages were served on KU flights.
After a brief stop at Heathrow we made our way back to the runway. A PK 747-200 was leading the way and it's roar could be heard as it disappeared out of sight and climbed into the skies above. Soon we were racing down and at some hundred feet up the magnificent terminal 4 of LHR lay below us. BA 744's lined the terminal and the Concorde lay on the other side. It was a beautiful and I am constantly reminded of the scene as I look at it framed forever in a wonderful photograph that I quickly took before the terminal passed us and we turned right out of the airport area. We made our way towards the Atlantic from where we would begin our track to JFK.
It was wonderful to be over the Atlantic and in the early evening light the winglet of the A340 shone against a backdrop of dark blue skies. The A340 is one of the quietest birds in the air and great in turbulence, but we had none. Very soon we were over Canadian Airspace and were making our way towards JFK. It was cloudy as we entered US airspace and it got more bumpy as we moved into heavy cloud cover. Because we were in a holding pattern we were moving in the clouds and the engine and wings disappeared which were once so clearly visible. The feeling made me sick to realise I could see nothing below. I knew we were finally going to land soon as you could feel the wheels descend and the flaps slowed the jet down. And then in just a blink of an eye, the clouds parted as we passed over water and then moments later slammed down at JFK. We had come over the ocean, and the rain was beating down on the glass outside as the captain pressed hard on the brakes to slow the gentle beast down as it raced on the wet slippery runway we had just landed on. Such a change from the perfect landing in LHR.
As we progressed towards the terminal the rain started to slow down yet it was still pouring. When we got to the terminal the runway was visible again and a TWA 747 was just landing the back wheels kicking up a spray of water as it made contact with the earth once again. The spoilers, flaps were at full level as the huge beast fought as we did to maintain ourselves on the runway. Another flight had landed at JFK.
The Airbus A340 was already parked at the gate when our KU A320 was making a turn into the terminal area. Very soon, I would be on the A340 heading to LHR and JFK. And very soon I was sitting in the last seat on the right from where I could see an SV 747 making it's way to the runway. We pulled out of the gate and were soon making our way in the same direction as the 747 from where the graceful A340 raced down in the runway and in it's own graceful way climbed out of Kuwait International. The jet did not turn left or right but headed south west towards Saudi airspace to avoid flying over Iraq to the right. It seemed like a flight to Saudi Arabia, and just as I was beginning to think it was, the graceful A340 turned right and headed towards Jordan in the direction of Amman. We were served lunch and I was soon watching the inflight entertainment, Kuwait Airways being one of the first few airlines in the world at the time to have seat back videos. Time flew and soon we were making our descent into British Airspace. Fields of yellow were visible as we descended lower and lower and soon cows lay grazing below as we passed above and touched down to the smoothest landing ever. Some were even unaware we had landed, but were made to notice it when some cabin crew members in the back applauded gently for the captain's graceful touchdown. The crew were friendly, and smartly dressed in their KU colours as they went about their jobs. The food was good and enough, and the soft drinks flowed. No alcoholic beverages were served on KU flights.
After a brief stop at Heathrow we made our way back to the runway. A PK 747-200 was leading the way and it's roar could be heard as it disappeared out of sight and climbed into the skies above. Soon we were racing down and at some hundred feet up the magnificent terminal 4 of LHR lay below us. BA 744's lined the terminal and the Concorde lay on the other side. It was a beautiful and I am constantly reminded of the scene as I look at it framed forever in a wonderful photograph that I quickly took before the terminal passed us and we turned right out of the airport area. We made our way towards the Atlantic from where we would begin our track to JFK.
It was wonderful to be over the Atlantic and in the early evening light the winglet of the A340 shone against a backdrop of dark blue skies. The A340 is one of the quietest birds in the air and great in turbulence, but we had none. Very soon we were over Canadian Airspace and were making our way towards JFK. It was cloudy as we entered US airspace and it got more bumpy as we moved into heavy cloud cover. Because we were in a holding pattern we were moving in the clouds and the engine and wings disappeared which were once so clearly visible. The feeling made me sick to realise I could see nothing below. I knew we were finally going to land soon as you could feel the wheels descend and the flaps slowed the jet down. And then in just a blink of an eye, the clouds parted as we passed over water and then moments later slammed down at JFK. We had come over the ocean, and the rain was beating down on the glass outside as the captain pressed hard on the brakes to slow the gentle beast down as it raced on the wet slippery runway we had just landed on. Such a change from the perfect landing in LHR.
As we progressed towards the terminal the rain started to slow down yet it was still pouring. When we got to the terminal the runway was visible again and a TWA 747 was just landing the back wheels kicking up a spray of water as it made contact with the earth once again. The spoilers, flaps were at full level as the huge beast fought as we did to maintain ourselves on the runway. Another flight had landed at JFK.
Yes, I've flown with Kuwait Airways in 2001 and it was a really bad experience.
I was flying from GVA to MNL in May 2001. We had to change airplane at Kuwait Airport.
When we arrived at Kuwait they told us that the next flight Kuwait to Manila was delayed by 8 hours and they brought us by bus to an empty hotel near the runways. I think this hotel was normally not used by anyone since the gulf war but by the passenger of the airplanes in cases like this one. They gave us some food and the food was not good. For drinks only water or some beverage they called coffee but was very far from my personal point of view about what an espresso should look like. As I was travelling with my family, my daughter wanted to drink some coke but there was'nt any bar open or even some machine to buy that drink. I had to pay an indian waiter to go somewhere to get for me the coke. Then we sleeped a few hours but as they waked up us at the last minute we had to jump into our clothes and run to the bus wich was waiting, followed by some Kuwait Airways employee shouting "hurry up, hurry up". I love so much to be waked up like this in the morning.... Then at the end we could take ou flight and start to travel to manila (with a short stop in Bangkok). We were 9 hours late on our schedule so instead of arriving at 4 pm in Manila we arrived at around 1 am. We had then a connecting flight to cebu. An employee of Kuwait Airways told me in Kuwait that they were making the change for us so I didn't have to worry about. In Manila there was somebody of KU waiting for us to give the new flight number and schedule. So we went to the domestic airport of Manila by taxi as this the only way to go from a an airport to the other in Manila. The only problem was for me and my family that it is not very safe to drive in Manila in the middle of the night but everything was ok. So we arrived at the domestic airport to discover that it was closed between 2am and 4am. Luckily there was plenty of security guards and people waiting so we could stay there waiting until 4am for the doors to open. When we went to the counter to check in our luggage (it was Air Philippines) they told me that they had a reservation for me made by Kuwait Airways but my tickets were not valid for this flight as originally we wanted to take Philippines Airlines. They told me I had to go somewhere in the city of Manila to the central office of Air Philippines but it was opening only at 7am ! There was a small ticket store in the front of the domestic airport so I went there to buy new tickets with my credit card. It was okay we took the flight to Cebu at 5am. The tickets of Philippines Airlines were entirely refunded by Kuwait Airways later when I came back home.
The return travel was more quiet, only the connecting flight we had to take in Kuwait was 2 hours late and overbooked so they asked some passengers to accept some dollars in exchange to stay one day in Kuwait and take the flight of the tommorow.
Mixed remarks about my experience with Kuwait Airways :
- the food was not good at all.
- No alcohol on board
- The stewards and stewardess were not kind at all. They don't answer to the bell.
- the toilets were really dirty and nobody wanted to clean (maybe a consquence of the bad food ?)
Conclusion: I will never take Kuwait Airways again !
I was flying from GVA to MNL in May 2001. We had to change airplane at Kuwait Airport.
When we arrived at Kuwait they told us that the next flight Kuwait to Manila was delayed by 8 hours and they brought us by bus to an empty hotel near the runways. I think this hotel was normally not used by anyone since the gulf war but by the passenger of the airplanes in cases like this one. They gave us some food and the food was not good. For drinks only water or some beverage they called coffee but was very far from my personal point of view about what an espresso should look like. As I was travelling with my family, my daughter wanted to drink some coke but there was'nt any bar open or even some machine to buy that drink. I had to pay an indian waiter to go somewhere to get for me the coke. Then we sleeped a few hours but as they waked up us at the last minute we had to jump into our clothes and run to the bus wich was waiting, followed by some Kuwait Airways employee shouting "hurry up, hurry up". I love so much to be waked up like this in the morning.... Then at the end we could take ou flight and start to travel to manila (with a short stop in Bangkok). We were 9 hours late on our schedule so instead of arriving at 4 pm in Manila we arrived at around 1 am. We had then a connecting flight to cebu. An employee of Kuwait Airways told me in Kuwait that they were making the change for us so I didn't have to worry about. In Manila there was somebody of KU waiting for us to give the new flight number and schedule. So we went to the domestic airport of Manila by taxi as this the only way to go from a an airport to the other in Manila. The only problem was for me and my family that it is not very safe to drive in Manila in the middle of the night but everything was ok. So we arrived at the domestic airport to discover that it was closed between 2am and 4am. Luckily there was plenty of security guards and people waiting so we could stay there waiting until 4am for the doors to open. When we went to the counter to check in our luggage (it was Air Philippines) they told me that they had a reservation for me made by Kuwait Airways but my tickets were not valid for this flight as originally we wanted to take Philippines Airlines. They told me I had to go somewhere in the city of Manila to the central office of Air Philippines but it was opening only at 7am ! There was a small ticket store in the front of the domestic airport so I went there to buy new tickets with my credit card. It was okay we took the flight to Cebu at 5am. The tickets of Philippines Airlines were entirely refunded by Kuwait Airways later when I came back home.
The return travel was more quiet, only the connecting flight we had to take in Kuwait was 2 hours late and overbooked so they asked some passengers to accept some dollars in exchange to stay one day in Kuwait and take the flight of the tommorow.
Mixed remarks about my experience with Kuwait Airways :
- the food was not good at all.
- No alcohol on board
- The stewards and stewardess were not kind at all. They don't answer to the bell.
- the toilets were really dirty and nobody wanted to clean (maybe a consquence of the bad food ?)
Conclusion: I will never take Kuwait Airways again !