The chairman of Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways has predicted that travel will gradually return to its pre-2019 levels by the fourth quarter after being pummelled by the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.
“We are very optimistic for the year 2022,” Marwan Boodai told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM).
He said Jazeera’s flexible business model allowed the airline to adapt in times of crisis to protect its customers, employees and shareholders’ value.
“We were able to reallocate our resources to support our local community and economy in a commitment to our role as a Kuwaiti national carrier, served our customers when government regulations permitted and continued to commit to our obligations,” he said.
During 2020, flights were suspended at Kuwait International Airport for close to six months from March 13 and extremely restricted for the rest of the year.
While the airline postponed some of its expansion plans, Boodai (pictured below) said Jazeera placed its resources to serve local efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to focusing on connecting flights between points that had high demand and were underserved.
The airline also started full-cargo flights and continued to work on its future expansion plans once travel traffic returns.
During 2020, Jazeera managed to contain its monthly cash burn at the KD1 million level, enabling it to weather the prolonged challenging conditions.
Last week, the company’s board of directors recommended a capital increase as a precautionary step as operations remain constrained by the prolonged closure of Kuwait International Airport.
Boodai said: “2020 was specifically exceptional in Kuwait with very strict restrictions and a conservative approach to fighting the pandemic when compared to neighboring countries and the situation of other low-cost carriers in the world. With the start of 2021, these restrictions continue, challenging growth in the first half of the year.
He added: “With the Government of Kuwait taking bold steps to vaccinating its people, as well as vaccines rolling out worldwide and airports easing restrictions, we expect travel to gradually return to its pre-2019 levels by the fourth quarter. We are very optimistic for the year 2022.
“We are ready to serve our customers once again. Our pilots, crew members and supporting teams have taken their vaccines. Our aircraft and Terminal 5 follow strict hygiene and safety rules. We continue to take delivery of new aircraft on order to support the expansion plans.”
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