Flydubai passengers on flights to and from Kuwait City will be able to make use of the VIP terminal usually reserved for private jets amid a US$6 billion expansion at the main airport terminal in the capital.
The expansion under way at Kuwait International Airport, a hub for Kuwait's airline Jazeera Airways and national carrier Kuwait Airways, is expected to increase annual capacity to 13 million passengers by 2016. Currently, it handles 6 million passengers a year.
A new $3bn terminal building will be added to the main airport. Kuwait’s directorate general of civil aviation will spend another $3bn to widen runways and set up a new cargo facility, among other upgrades.
During the expansion phase, the directorate is encouraging airlines to move to the Sheikh Saad Al Abdallah General Aviation Terminal.
Among the airlines currently using the main terminal are Lebanon's Middle East Airlines, Sharjah's Air Arabia and Emirates.
The Saad Al Abdallah terminal was opened in 2008 to cater to private flights as well as the publicly traded Wataniya Airways that flew to destinations in the Arabian Gulf, Middle East and Europe. However, it stopped operations in March 2011 because of “financial disorders and lack of cash liquidity”, according to the Kuwaiti airline’s website.
Since then, the terminal has mainly operated private jet and helicopter services.
Flydubai started operating from the new base last Saturday. Starting its operations to Kuwait with two flights a day in 2010, the airline now flies eight times a day between Dubai and Kuwait City. It carries 1 million passengers a year on the route using its Airbus A320 aircraft, flydubai said.
The passenger numbers for flydubai's Kuwait sector grew by 31 per cent last year. About 84 per cent of them end their journey in Dubai while the rest connects to other destinations on flydubai's network, such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India and Georgia, the airline said.
At the new terminal, it will take about 25 minutes for economy class passengers to pass through immigration, pick up luggage and exit the terminal, and about 10 minutes for business class passengers, according to flydubai.
The airline will introduce its business class services on select flights to Kuwait starting next month.
ssahoo@thenational.ae
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
More coverage from the Future Forum
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Marital status: Single
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
