Posted inTransport

Kuwait agrees plan to privatise national airline

Public Investment Authority to complete legal procedures for Kuwait Airways move.

PRIVATISATION PLAN: Kuwaits cabinet has
PRIVATISATION PLAN: Kuwaits cabinet has

Kuwait’s cabinet has “tentatively” agreed terms to privatise its national airline, Kuwait Airways Corporation, with legal procedures to change the company now being finalised.

The government debated the move in a marathon session that continued into the early hours of Monday, on the back of reports on the privatisation plan conducted by international consultancy agencies.

Dr Bader Mohammad Al-Saad, managing director of the Public Investment Authority (PIA), told KUNA News Agency that necessary steps for the implementation of the law regarding the company were reviewed during the session.

The government has tasked the PIA with completing legal procedures to transform the corporation into a shareholding Kuwaiti company, KUNA added.

Kuwaiti media in March 2009 reported that Kuwait Airways draft budget for 2009-2010 forecast a loss of 36 million Kuwaiti dinars ($123.3 million).

The Kuwaiti government said in January 2008 that the airline would be privatised. The government will maintain a 60 percent share in the carrier, while the remaining will be sold.

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