Photo by Mohamed Morsi Kuwait Airways welcomes Airbus A350 … · ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015 4 LOCAL Photo by Mohamed Morsi Airbus A350 XWB at the Amiri Airport Photos by

ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015

4LOCAL

Photo by Mohamed Morsi

Airbus A350 XWB at the Amiri Airport

Photos by Mohamed Morsi

Photos during the event

highlighting core features of theA350 XWB. “The foremost concernof airlines is operational efficiency.Airbus invests large amounts ofmoney in building new airplanes toenable airlines such as KuwaitAirways to enjoy very substantialeconomic benefits with a 25 percentreduction in fuel consumption thancurrent long range airplanes.”

He informed that there are twomodels of the A350 XWB, the A350-

900 that is being built in Toulouse atpresent and the A350-1000, a highercapacity aircraft still in developmentthat will fly next year. “The airplaneis built in Toulouse, in SouthwestFrance at a brand new state of the artfacility that allows us to produce air-planes of the highest quality and asmany as ten each and every monthuntil 2018”, he remarked.

783 orders for the A350 XWBhave been received from 41 countries

so far and Pardoe expects the numberto grow. Until now, ten deliverieshave been made with six to QatarAirways, three to Vietnam Airlinesand one to Finnair. “These deliveriesare continuing and becoming morerapid and more numerous. Soon, theA350 will be seen in the skies aroundthe world”, he said.

Pardoe drew attention to the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine, whichoutperforms competitors in terms of

fuel economy, emissions and overallefficiency. He also underscored theall-new fuselage built with carbon-fibre reinforce plastic (CFRP) thatsupports lower fuel burn, easiermaintenance and increased resistanceto corrosion. Additionally, the jetlin-er’s wings are more efficient, quieter,and tailored for maximum aerody-namic efficiency in the various phas-es of flight.

Pardoe explained that to get the

Revolutionary event in the history of air transportation in Kuwait: Al-Roumi

Kuwait Airways welcomes Airbus A350 XWBBy Cinatra Fernandes

Arab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Nov 7: KuwaitAirways hosted the Airbus A350XWB at the Amiri Airport onThursday morning, a precursor to theten aircrafts ordered by KAC thatwill join its upgraded fleet, starting2020. The special event was attendedby popular political and diplomaticpersonalities, representatives fromAirbus, and media.

The A350 XWB is a new genera-tion, extra wide body jetliner, madefrom advanced composite materialsand powered by two new-generationRolls-Royce Trent XWB engines todeliver an operating range of 7600nautical miles.

Rasha Al-Roumi, Chairman andManaging Director of KAC stated,“This event is a crossroad not only inthe history of our Corporation but inthe industry of air transportation inKuwait in general. This is the firsttime ever for the Airbus A350 XWBto land in Kuwait. KAC set a long-term strategy of strengthening itsleading position between the air car-riers in the region and the world. Thiswas behind signing this contract,aiming to inform the Kuwaiti societyabout this new type of airplane thatwill join the fleet of KAC”.

Partnership“On this occasion we should thank

the Airbus, this international compa-ny that have carried millions of pas-sengers around the world onboard ofits aircrafts since it was established.We thank them for their cooperationwith the KAC and this partnership,which is based on their trust in ourservices and reputation. Airbus is aleader of the best aircrafts in theworld, as well as KAC is among theleaders of the airline companies inthe region and the world,” sheremarked.

Al-Roumi informed that KACmade great improvements in itsfleet focusing on safety and securi-ty, in addition to providing highquality maintenance due to its teamof best technicians and trained serv-ice staff. “With announcing thejoining of 25 new Airbus planes toour fleet, we open new bright pagein the history of Kuwait Airwaysthat appreciates the trust of itsclients.”

Fouad Attar, Managing Director,Airbus Middle East, stated “Today,we feel very much honored to bringthe A350 XWB to Kuwait and giveaviation experts a preview of KuwaitAirways’ future fleet. Kuwait is oneof the most important markets in theregion, and we are proud to presentour aircrafts to KAC, our strategicpartner, which will be our best repre-sentative. We are proud to hold thisexperimental tour in the sky ofKuwait”.

Commenting on the new aircraft hestated, “The A350XWB stands out inits class thanks to its combination ofpassenger comfort and state of the arttechnological innovation. What youwill experience today is a newdimension of air travel experience”.

Alan Pardoe, Head of MarketingCommunications for Airbus, deliv-ered a presentation to invited media,

A350 XWB into commercial service,rigorous flight tests were performed.“We used 5 flight test airplanes thatcollectively performed more than2500 hours of arduous testing toensure that the airplane is not justefficient but also mature and reliablein its service to airlines and their cus-tomers.”

On tour of the aircraft, he drewattention to the flight deck that notonly boasts capabilities of advancednavigational precision but also easeof flying with improved flight deckdimensions, built around an arrange-ment of identical, interchangeablelarge displays.

The Airbus A350 XWB MSN 2aircraft visiting Kuwait is fitted witha two class cabin layout with 42 lie-flat business class seats in a fourabreast configuration and 210 econo-my-class 18 inch wide seats set atnine abreast. The aircraft is also fittedwith special on-board flight testequipment.

Kuwait Airways signed a contractwith Airbus to purchase 25 new air-planes; 10 Airbus A350 XWB and 15Neo A320, which will join the KAC’sfleet in 2020.Speaking to the ArabTimes, Kamil Al Awadhi, ChiefOperating Officer at KAC, enumerat-ed the airline’s fleet renewal strategy,“We’ve had seven new A320s in ourfleet. We have ordered 5 new A330s,the fourth of which arrived this weekand the last is expected to arrive bythe end of this month. We are lookingat 10 Boeing 777s that start arrivingfrom November next year and will becomplete within a span of 8 months.We will then start receiving a combi-nation of A320s and A350s upto theyear 2022.”

RoutesHe shared that most of the old fleet

had been retired, the few that werestill in operation are being phased outas upgrades arrive. KAC is also in theprocess of reviewing its routes struc-ture, “The study is being done bycommercial department right now.This might include adding, reducing,strengthening routes or increasingfrequencies.”

He shared that all aircrafts in itsupgraded fleet will help reduceground time. “Good scheduling willhelp us to have fast turn arounds,optimise utilisation of the aircrafts.We want to keep the aircrafts flyingand on ground as minimum. The newaircrafts give us that ability, they aremore reliable and they are designedto turn around a lot faster.”

When asked if the Kuwait airportis expanding enough to cope withincreasing traffic, he remarked,“Kuwait has tried quite hard to pro-duce the next massive airport to copewith the current increase of about 7percent traffic per annum. They aremoving in the right direction. It hastaken more time than airlines wouldlike. But there is now an urgency forthe airport to be built at a quickerpace, the airport plan is adequate tohandle growth in the next five years.”

The event was accompanied with agathering at the Marina Crescentwhere huge audience were able towatch the Airbus A350 XWB flyingin the sky of Kuwait.

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