Kuwait Airways has flown between Kuwait and New York for years, though the flight has an interesting history. In recent years it hasn’t operated nonstop in the westbound direction, and that’s because they didn’t get security clearance to operate flights nonstop from Kuwait to the US (which is a big challenge that some countries have…
Continue reading: Kuwait Airways’ New York Flight Is (Finally) Nonstop
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If the issue is booze, better to fly them from New York to Kuwait, you can stock up on booze in whatever lounge they use in the US or just get a cheap bottle from duty free...
Any idea when they might make this change? I wanted to try them out flying from Colombo in November...
@ Michael Ip -- It's supposed to be as of today, though best I can tell the flight is enroute to Shannon, so I'm not sure if they had some problems, or...
@ Aaron -- True, though almost the entire motivation for flying them is their cheap business fares which mostly originate in Asia, while they don't really have any good fares departing the US (like CMB-JFK for $800 one-way in business).
Lucky please don't fly with these open racists. Nothing too exciting anyway with their service
Didn't know about this discriminatory policy until now.
Thanks to Lucky, I have one less reason to visit Kuwait or fly their airline.
I wonder if they'll be able to get a US-based airline to codeshare on (market) the flight. Then they'd be able to get that sweet US government contract money.
Hopefully this means that with the drama over the NYC/LHR passenger behind them, they will allow UA to resume their IAD/KWI non-stop...That flight got caught up in the crossfire of NYC/LHR incident...
Always enjoyed that quirk at Shannon seeing them on the board.
On a tangent, the Irish government has signed off on expanding Shannon & Dublin pre-clearance, which hopefully makes it much quicker than it has been in the past.
My parents have flown Kuwait Airways several times over the last few years on the JFK-KWI-DEL route. Business is typically 25% cheaper than any carrier (other than Air India) and the planes are new. Even without alcohol, soooo much better than Air India.
Most of the passengers from JFK are from the Indian subcontinent.
14 hours without a drink? Hmm. And in First?
Presumably pax will pre-clear immigration in Shannon so that's a time saving
I flew them ages ago en route to India . Kuwait airport is a mess. And God forbid if your flight is delayed because of a 'sandstorm' in Kuwait.
Stopping in LHR and clearing security was interesting. We were allowed to board the aircraft with cigarettes and lighters in cabin baggage. At LHR, they frowned upon the zippo I had and seized it!
Ben here you go , But you are going to be disappointed.
I tried Kuwait First class Two years ago From Dubai For $2400 I'm stil A gold member end have 78K points from that flight
Would the elimination of the Shannon stop make you more likely to fly Kuwait Airways to New York? Definitely no!
Clearly this is an exception to the mindset that "a rose is a rose is a rose." This is not your typical ambitious, global airline and as customers, we need a dose of perspective when sizing up or flying with Kuwait Airways. This is an airline of the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait, a small, affluent, Arab and Muslim, Gulf state. It can do a Qatar if it wants to. It certainly has the money. But no, they aren't doing that (or at least not anything closely approximating). When you fly them, you'd wonder why if they're rich, how come the airport is cramped and dated. You get this feeling that the airline is there like a car in Kuwaitis' garages - a transport to take them where they'd care to go in reasonable comfort and not a lot of flash. Truth is, I would not have flown with them were it not for the reasonable fares and the newer aircraft. Come to think of it, the current fleet renewal isn't really geared towards a big-budget campaign for routes expansion or to get your business with innovative interiors or warm service or great food. As with cars in the garage, they are just keeping up with the times. There's no need to shout from the rooftops about it.
With the new non stop flight is the customs and immigration for US done at Kuwait or at JFK? I have heard the queues are very long at JFK and may take hours to get through immigration and customst there.