KUWAIT AIRWAYS 1969-1979-PART 3

KAC 1969-1979

From 1969 to 1974, the company entered a stage of consolidation. Few destinations were added : Baghdad  Dhahran and Abu Dhabi appears in their 1970 timetable  and  by 1974, Delhi, Muscat, Jeddah and Sana’a become part of  KAC’s network. The Tridents are gradually retired and relegated to regional services  as the new 707 arrives, and will be completely withdrawn from services in 1972 after the delivery of 2 new Boeing 707 to replace the 2 withdrawn Tridents (sold to Cyprus Airways)

9K-ACM  delivered to KAC on january 15, 1972.


"Kuwait Airways Boeing 707 Volpati-1" by Christian Volpati - http://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/1499933/Kuwait-Airways/Boeing/707-300/9K-ACM/. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.

9K-ACN  delivered to KAC on February 25, 1972.



"Boeing 707-369C, Kuwait Airways AN1018137" by AlainDurand - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kuwait-Airways/Boeing-707-369C/1018137/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/3/1/1018137.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.

Summer 1970 KAC  boeing 707 operations

Summer 1970 KAC HS TRIDENT  operations

The sector Kuwait-Abadan was a mixed operations of B707 and HS Trident

1973 marks the 5^th consecutive year of profits for the company with a net profit of GBP 2,900,000 compared to GBP 910,000 in 1968 and achieving an overall load factor of 53%

In 1975, the airline will acquire 2 additional  Boeing 707 from PAN AMERICAN (N870PA "Clipper Dreadnought and N872PA "Clipper Swordfish") to plan for the expansion of the company and in 1976, KAC receives a Boeing 737 which will be used to match demand with capacity on its regional route .

1976 sees the expansion of the company with the addition of no less than 6 destinations added to the network: Tunis, Tripoli, Casablanca, Ras El khaimah, Khartoum  and Belgrade (seasonal).

1977 will see the addition of further 2 destinations: Amsterdam and Larnaca.

1977 SUMMER TIMETABLE.www.timetableimages.com/Bjorn Larsson collection

KAC EUROPEAN NETWORK  SUMMER1977

KAC MIDDLE EAST-NORTH AFRICA-AFRICA  1977 SUMMER NETWORK

KAC GULF-INDIA-PAKISTAN 1977 SUMMER NETWORK

1978 , KAC  takes delivery of 3 Boeing 747-200,  the first being delivered on 23/7/1978,  the second on 17/8/1978 and the last one on 28/2/1979. The Boeing 747 were named “Al Jaberiya”, Al Sabahiya”and “Al Mubarakiya”

9K-ADA : AL JABERIYA

"Boeing 747-269BM, Kuwait Airways AN1618531" by Michel Gilliand - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kuwait-Airways/Boeing-747-269BM/1618531/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/3/5/1618531.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.

9K-ADB : AL SABAHIYA


"Boeing 747-269BM, Kuwait Airways AN1125891" by Tim Rees - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kuwait-Airways/Boeing-747-269BM/1125891/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/9/8/1125891.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.



9K-ADC : AL MUBARAKIYA




"Boeing 747-269BM, Kuwait Airways AN1125891" by Tim Rees - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kuwait-Airways/Boeing-747-269BM/1125891/L Photo http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/9/8/1125891.jpg. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1979, the company celebrates its 25th anniversary with the addition of Zurich, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Madrid, Belgrade (seasonal) and expands to the India sub-continent with the addition of Dacca and in the Far east with Bangkok joining the network as evidenced by the 1979 summer timetable of the company

1979 SUMMER TIMETABLE.Bjorn Larsson collection

KAC EUROPEAN NETWORK  SUMMER1979

KAC MIDDLE EAST-NORTH AFRICA-AFRICA  1979 SUMMER NETWORK

KAC GULF-INDIA-SUBCONTINENT-SOUTHEAST ASIA 1979 SUMMER NETWORK

 The company orders 3 Boeing 727-200 Advanced sporting an accommodation of 14F/126Y.

I would like to take the opportunity to outline some of the route structure of the company.

In the time frame studied Kuwait airways operated a host of “dog-legged” routes, to mention some of them:

-KWI-DHA-ADE-KWI:  1970, 1971, 1972, 1972/73

-KWI-DOH-DHA-KWI :  1970, 1971,1972

-KWI-AMM-DAM-KWI & KWI-DAM-AMM-KWI: 1972, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1974. 1974/75, 1976 and 1976/77

-KWI-BAH-DXB-KWI : 1976, 1976/77

-KWI-DOH-MCT-DOH-DHA-KWI: 1972/73, 1973/74, 1974/75

-KWI-AUH-DXB-KWI: 1973/74, 1974/75

-KWI-DHA-BAH-KWI: 1973/74, 1974. 1974/75, 1976 and 1976/77

-KWI-DOH-DHA-KWI: 1974/75, 1976/77

-KWI-DEL-DXB-KWI: 1974/75, 1976/77

-KWI-AUH-MCT-KWI: 1977

-KWI-DHA-DXB-KWI: 1977

-KWI-AUH-MCT-DOH-DHA-KWI: 1976/77

-KWI-DOH-BAH-KWI : 1976/77

-KWI-DXB-AUH-KWI: 1976/77, 1977

By 1979, the dog-legged services seem to have been disposed of.

During the time frame studied, the network of the company grew from 37800 km to  84602 km and the number of destinations from 23 to 42. European destinations doubled from 6 to 12 and Africa-Middle East destinations from 15 to 25 as shown in the table below.

KAC STATS

 

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