Kuwait Wataniya Air expects to break even by 2011

SOARING HIGH: Wataniya Airways, which started its operations as a luxury airline in January, has two leased Airbus A320s.

Kuwait's Wataniya Airways expects to break even by 2011 and will decide in July whether to expand its fleet through aircraft purchases, the luxury airline's chief executive told Reuters in an interview.

"We have a three-year business plan and we expect to break even in that three-year period," CEO George Cooper said. The firm is expected to release its 2008 results later this month.

Asked about the carrier's performance in 2009, Cooper said: "So far I'm encouraged by the reaction of the market to the service so we are reasonably optimistic that against the fairly cautious budget, we'll do quite well."

The airline is not facing financing problems despite the global credit crunch since it has raised enough capital to start operations, Cooper said late on Tuesday.

"We had an IPO (initial public offering) back in 2006 which raised 50 million dinars ($169.2 million), and that's enough to fund the start of an airline," he said. "We are not needing to go to the banks for financing."

The airline's board will decide in July on an aircraft purchase, Cooper said, declining to say how many planes the carrier might order.

"There are many aircraft available and of course we will look at what's available at the time that we make the choice and start talking to various vendors," he said when asked whether the airline will talk to manufacturers Boeing and Airbus.

Wataniya Airways, which started its operations as a luxury airline in January, has two leased Airbus A320s, and will receive two more in 2009, and three in 2010, he said.

The carrier is still committed to $250-$300 million in leasing deals with Kuwait's Aviation Lease & Finance Co (Alafco), Dutch firm AerCap and US firm International Lease Finance Corporation, it said in November. Wataniya flies to Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut and Cairo. It may add new destinations later in the year, Cooper said, without elaborating.

Wataniya is the third carrier in the OPEC producer state after state-owned Kuwait Airways Corp and low-cost airline Jazeera Airways. (Reuters)

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