Kuwaiti budget carrier Jazeera Airways is to purchase six older Airbus A320s which the airline currently operates on lease.
Jazeera’s board states that it will fund the purchase from its own resources as well as loans from local banks.
It values the transaction at KD55.57 million ($180.6 million).
Jazeera chief executive Barathan Pasupathi, speaking during a third-quarter briefing in November, said the carrier had a fleet of 24 aircraft with another 26 on order – comprising 18 A320neos and eight A321neos.
These new aircraft are set to be delivered from 2026.
“We are pretty stable with the 24 aircraft in the network,” he said. “But we would like to put more seats in the market.”
Pasupathi said the carrier wanted to expand the number of seats offered next year.
“Given the growth trajectory we’ve seen over the last two years and the growth we expect next year, we are confident that Jazeera could put in at least another 10% of additional seat capacity in the market,” he said.
“We will address that either by looking at opportunistic leases if we have to do it, or looking at other solutions.”
