Kuwait Airways insists Airbus deal ‘on track’
Assembly panel forms three-MP probe in KAC deals
KUWAIT: A parliamentary investigation into a Kuwait Airways plan to buy and lease aircraft from Airbus will not affect the deal, the state carrier’s chairwoman told a local newspaper in comments published yesterday. Kuwait’s parliament voted on Wednesday to investigate all contracts signed by state-owned Kuwait Airways, which is attempting its biggest overhaul since the 1990 Iraqi invasion. Such parliamentary inquiries are common in Kuwait, where lawmakers in the National Assembly often question large government projects and have delayed or scuppered them in the past.
Al-Anbaa newspaper quoted Kuwait Airways Chairwoman Rasha Al-Roumi as saying the deal would be completed without being delayed. Meanwhile, Al Rai newspaper reported that a company formed in the UAE and owned by a former Kuwaiti minister who now sits on the KAC board was negotiating on behalf of Kuwait Airways. A controversial KD 230 million insurance clause is part of the parliamentary questioning of the deal.
In December the loss-making airline signed a provisional agreement with Airbus to buy 25 new aircraft in a deal worth $4.4 billion at list prices without announcing the value of the deal. The order would include the purchase of 10 A350-900 and 15 medium-haul A320neo jets. The airline also aims to lease 12 aircraft from Airbus pending delivery of the new planes. The two companies are now going over technical and legal aspects of the deal, Al-Anbaa said. A final contract will only be signed when an internal Kuwait Airways commission gives the green light, it added.
A Kuwait Airways spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the report. Politics and bureaucracy have long complicated Kuwait’s plans to modernise its infrastructure and compete as a Gulf financial hub.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly’s legal and legislative committee yesterday formed a three-MP panel from its members to carry out an investigation into aircraft deals to be undertaken by Kuwait Airways. Last week, the Assembly approved a proposal to form the probe committee to investigate the deals amid “suspicions” as claimed by some MPs. The probe committee is headed by MP Yacoub Al-Sane and includes MPs Abdulhameed Dashti and Talal Al-Jallal. Another probe committee formed to investigate suspicions surrounding the contract of the AlZour North Power Plant project held its first meeting yes- terday which was attended by Finance Minister Anas AlSaleh.
Dashti said the committee submitted to the minister 25 questions and demanded answers about the project before the end of the month. The committee also asked the minister to suspend all contractual procedures into the project until the committee completes its work and the minister promised to do so as long as the suspension does not burden the state with financial obligations. The legislative committee also approved the telecommunications commission draft law and referred it to the public utilities committee which is expected to approve it soon and have it ready for an Assembly debate next month.