KUWAIT AIRWAYS 1960-1968 (PART 2)

KUWAIT AIRWAYS 1960-1968

The company enters slowly but surely its early maturity age. B.O.A.C disengages itself completely from the management of the company after accumulated losses of STG 1,000,000 and on June 1, 1963, KAC becomes wholly government owned. The same year KAC introduces flights to Tehran and operates flights on behalf of Gulf Air.

KAC TIMETABLE dated June 1 1963 . www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson Collection

KAC summer 1963 map

 
Kuwait airways operated 3 HS Comet 4C: 9k-ACI, 9K-ACE and 9K-ACA .

9K-ACI  KAC Comet4C by Christian Volpati @ wikimedia commons via GFDL1.2 License

9K-ACI was ex BOAC G-APDG and leased by Kuwait Airways Corporation


First European services, on March 2, 1964, are launched to London via Beirut, Geneva, Paris or Frankfurt operated by the Comet.

Fun fact : according to an article published by “Flight magazine” and published on April 13, 1961, KUWAIT AIRWAYS plan was to launch services to London using Comet 4C chartered from MEA on this alleged route “KWI-TIP-NCE-LHR” ; of course, it never materialized.

   
The 1967 map shows the extent of the KAC network. 

KAC SUMMER 1967 MAP

 
In the same year, the company orders the Boeing 707-320C, 2 of which will be delivered in November and December 1968 successively. The new frames will be put in service January 1969. Kuwait Airways took delivery of 3 HS Trident: 2 of the 1E series (9K-ACF and 9K-ACG) delivered respectively in March and May 1966. Unfortunately 9k-ACG will be written-off as the Trident crashed on approach to Kuwait City after a poorly executed approach carried out by the crew with fortunately no fatalities (flight KU 32, BEY-KWI with 72 passengers and 11crew). The last Trident 1C series (9K-ACH) will be delivered to the airline on November 22,  1966. The 2 tridents will be sold to Cyprus Airways when 1 of them will meet (Trident 1C 5B-DAE) its fate during the Turkish invasion of the island in July 1974. 

9K-ACH  KAC HS 121 TRIDENT 1C by Clinton Groves @wikimedia commons through GDL1.2 License

The 1968 timetable shows a further expansion as Athens and Aden will be added to the network. 

KAC SUMMER 1968 TIMETABLE  Fm.www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson Collection

KAC SUMMER 1968 MAP

At this point of the post, I would like to introduce you to Trans Arabia Airways a competitor to K.A.C. We do not have much information about the company except that it was founded in 1959 with a DC4 previously owned by Australia National Airways and operated a very limited network to Beirut, Cairo, Jerusalem and Damascus. The DC4 will give place to the DC6B delivered to Trans Arabia in April 1960 

TRANS ARABIA DC6B G-ARTO.Private Collection

 
Trans Arabia will eventually operated 3 DC6B . Although operating from Kuwait the company was head quartered in Beirut and In April 1964, the Kuwaiti government purchases Trans Arabia and merges it with K.A.C. According to flight International magazine, at the time of the merger the company operated 3 DC6B on: KWI-BEY-FCO-FRA-LHR, and to regional destinations: CAI, DOH, DAM, JRS, BAH and JED. After the 1967 6-days war and when the DC7 fleet of ALIA was destroyed, The Government of Kuwait gifted the Ex Trans Arabia Airways DC6B to ALIA.

Some statistics for the period

LINKS in this blog to other Kuwait Airways posts

KAC vickers viscount operations
KAC 1954-1959
A PLANE A NAME KAC'S AIRBUS A310


Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.