The brutally honest review below was making its way around whatsapp earlier today:
Review by Mark Stableford (Kuwait) 10th July 2015
This has to be one of the worst, most confusing and incompetent airports on the planet. Departing, there is not one single check-in hall, but four – each at completely different ends and corners of the airport. You can only get into two of them from the outside, while the other two are burrowed deep inside where you would not expect them, each of them again at different ends of the airport. It is completely confusing and time consuming to find where to check in, involving walking in and out the building (bearing in mind its 50c outside) and across large distances through what looks like a refugee camp. It takes many visits and missed flights to eventually get some idea of the layout and check in process. If you do manage to check in, you then have to encounter a myriad of incompetent, slow and lazy barriers from security through immigration. If your boarding pass is printed on a piece of paper instead of cardboard, you will be sent back to do your check-in all over again.On arriving in the country you can spend hours trying to get through immigration along with teaming masses of other poor souls (South East Asian migrant labour) with people running between queues as one is closed whilst her majesty there takes a phone call, wanders off to the toilet, or just simply closes up her booth having lost interest. You can end up at the back end of a queue again many times doing this. The airport completely lacks any signage or common sense. Asking for help or information is a pointless waste of time. Nobody knows, or nobody cares (unless you are lucky enough to find an Indian or Philippino member of staff), but then they are almost always completely powerless to help. Its also filthy.
Unfortunately it sums up almost Kuwait infrastructure and management. What a contrast to places like Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Worst of all, this was not too many decades ago the most advanced and progressive country in the region. What a absolute shame. 0/10 is all this miserable horror of an place deserves. Unfortunately the minimum one can give is 1/10.
The average score for the airport is a 2/10. We need the new airport now more than ever. [Source]
60 replies on “Kuwait Airport Review”
Apply cold water to burned area.
I like how your more than ok with the fact that someone just publicly showing your country’s infrastructure and management as shit. Why the F*** dont people do anything about this, our highways are shit, our airline has been “upgraded” and yet the chairwoman has the guts to publicly say “we cannot compete with emirates and etihad”, the kuwait towers have been closed for more than 3 years for no reason and dont tell me you believe that whole big ass project thing, the lights go out, our drainage floods when a few drops of rain fall, all parliament does is blame each other and dont do crap it reached the point were diwan al amiri has take over all projects because parliament cant be trusted to sign a paper. And yet people like you are ok with all this and dont say anything and yet cant realise that when the UAE was nothing more than sand and mud buildings kuwait was the most developed countries in the arab world and now look, they are light years ahead. Sure dubai is in huge debts they most probably cant pay but took at them and look at us. I stopped reading this article by the end why? because i feel ashamed because my country has been insulted and i have nothing to say. i can only pray that change is coming.
If you want to see shitty highways come to LA.
And how rich is kuwait compared to L.A? And please compare Lax to kuwait intl. Im pretty sure lax doesn’t leak when it starts raining.
You said the roads in Kuwait are shit and I said the roads in LA are shit compared to Kuwait. You then replied with “and how rich is Kuwait compared to LA”…. What exactly is your argument here?
that kuwait is richer than L.A so it kinda should have good roads. and to tell you the truth I’ve never been to L.A so i couldnt argue…. why you always gotta put me off.
Actually Kuwait is not richer than LA if you measure by GDP alone. Which shows LA as 3 times ‘richer’ than Kuwait.
However, that shouldn’t be your measure. You got it right the first time when you mentioned the state of our government. That is the key difference between us and Dubai. We pretend democracy is important to us, but through our little rigged ‘democratic’ system, we take 5 steps back for every step forward.
Anyways, the state of our country is upsetting and depressing. There are mountains we need to cross and everyday these mountains are looking taller.
The state of our country is not sad or depressing. Kuwait is improving, we are in an upward hill.
Kuwait projects market looks to cash in on record-breaking 2014
https://news.kuwaittimes.net/kuwait-projects-market-looks-to-cash-in-on-record-breaking-2014/
Changes in investment law draw tech giant to Kuwait
https://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/changes-investment-law-draw-tech-giant-kuwait
Kuwait: Projects market looks to capitalize on record-breaking 2014
https://www.kuwait.nbk.com/investmentandbrokerage/researchandreports/$Document/EconomicReports/en-gb/MainCopy/$UserFiles/NBKKuwaitProjects20150303E.pdf
Kuwait ignited: Gulf country enters a new phase of economic growth
https://www.thebanker.com/World/Kuwait-ignited-Gulf-country-enters-a-new-phase-of-economic-growth?ct=true
New Kuwait
https://instagram.com/newkuwaitgov/
Kuwait: A record year for projects activity
https://www.meed.com/countries/kuwait/kuwait-a-record-year-for-projects-activity/3211201.article
Kuwait is thriving with $188 billion of construction projects currently underway
https://www.zawya.com/story/Kuwait_is_thriving_with_188_billion_of_construction_projects_currently_underway-ZAWYA20150701070311/
Three huge cultural centers are underway, plus another museum is planned. Jaber Bridge (linking Kuwait City to Silk City) is ahead of schedule in construction. Silk City will begin construction when Jaber Bridge is built.
Urban expansion in southern Kuwait going well, many new residential areas in southern Kuwait are under construction. Urban expansion in northern Kuwait also underway with Jaber Bridge.
Kuwait fiscal reserves hit record $592 billion (major non-source source of income for Kuwait)
https://news.yahoo.com/kuwait-fiscal-reserves-hit-record-592-bn-report-092133093.html
Dozens of new hospitals finished construction, including Jaber Hospital which will be the biggest hospital in the Middle East.
Kuwait eyes investment surge
https://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/kuwait-eyes-investment-surge
Kuwait wants diversified economy by turning the country into hub of SMEs. Fund for SMEs set up to help entrepreneurs.
Changes in investment law draw tech giant to Kuwait
https://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/changes-investment-law-draw-tech-giant-kuwait
Recent changes in investment law attracts foreign companies to Kuwait.
Hub for SMEs, Kuwait won’t follow the Dubai path in diversification but rather focus on SMEs.
Ok i understand that that new things are “coming” but why is everything taking so long where were this projects between 1991-2010 ? and i have one question wat will happen if kuwait’s oil runs of TOMORROW not a year later or a month later, will we be the greece of the middle east? we are doing everything greece is our government is corrupt and don’t u dare say its not because “wasta” is corruption, secondly kuwaitis have such high wages and don’t work at all, and we don’t collect tax. why doesn’t anyone realise that our oil is a blessing and not something we should take for granted, why is the government using the money wisely
My architect sister call it “the thong design” -__- اهي قالت انا مالي شغل
I understand his disappointment with the airport’s infrastructure, but was it really necessary to call a certain group of labourers at KIA filthy?
He said “Its also filthy.” not “They’re also filthy.”
By “It” he’s referring to the airport being filthy not the laborers.
Oh, I may have misunderstood that. Honest mistake. Haha.
He forgot the gates changing on you and no one telling you about it. Also having to sit on the walkway because there is no seating until they let you into your gate that never seems to open until right at boarding. Shit WiFi and lack of power receptacles as well. Etc,etc,etc….
Strictly to the WiFi point, at least you have free WiFi in Kuwait airport. Ataturk airport in Istanbul has no free hotspot. And you can`t compare the two of them.
Everything said is in tune to the reality of the country. Thats the fact we have to live with it, till this generation of corruption comes to and end.
Having said that, nearly all countries are corrupted by politicians its just more obvious in Kuwait since the country is small.
On the other hand, how many countries have social security infrastructure.?
How many countries provide to their citizens free housing?
Tax free roads, I can go on and on with all the things the country has to offer it’s citizens and if you are Kuwaiti like I am you would appreciate what you are blessed with.
With all this we just have to be patient and hope things will settle down and people start to realize that progress takes time we are better off than a lot of countries.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, what was said is a true fact.
If change is to come, we must first learn to accept other peoples point of view and accepting things changes peoples mentality towards the betterment of the country.
True facts are answers to the problems we face, denying them or not accepting them is just a step backwards.
Also, truth is, building this airport is akin to placing a pretty plaster/band-aid on a cancer site. At face value it looks like we are tackling the problem, and improving; however, we are not identifying and treating the real problem which is growing at a catastrophic level.
I just find it funny that he’s got a couple grammar errors, could be a fake “story” but the point is agreed.
You’ve never been to the airport before?
Haha, I don’t mean it that way, I mean that the story isn’t legit and that it’s probably a guy who’s just zeroing everything for the hell of it, cause you said it came from whatsapp which to be honest has a lot of BS lately, I completely missed the source so apologies, but yeah the airport is a travesty I agree on that point.
He didn’t zero on anything at all. In fact he missed out a few points. I would like to add the female staff at the airport are pretty rude and a few male staff too. But otherwise all the other cops and staff working there are friendly. It is also to be noted that attitudes at the airport reveal a lot about a country, therefore staff and the airport should be welcoming rather being full on attitude and rude behavior. People in Kuwait just suck at customer service. But hey, I love Kuwait and chose to stay here over staying in UAE. Theres more good to Kuwait than bad for saying she is hopeless. To the ones who hate only,, Sheno Ya3ni (W)
does anyone know whats the latest news on the retendering of the new airport project?
I think it was reported 2020, that is when Kuwait becomes the financial hub of the GCC? Only I fear nobody will be standing in line to invest, not exactly investor friendly now or will be then I fear. This airport can be restructured very easily until the new airport is built, but it now involves eliminating some of the retail space. Definitely, the airport staff should go through PR classes and utilize foreign nationals from the various countries with language skills to assist the foreign passengers in that terminal. Kuwait should firstly build a separate business class/first class lounge to get rid of some of the airport traffic – that is what Qatar Airport did. Another key issue that highlights the shortfalls of this government is that if this airport was built years ago when it should have been built, it would not have been as costly as it is today to build, but continuous delays only highlights incompetence and a lack of adherence to ‘national pride’ that is attached to the new airport project. This honestly makes Kuwait as a nation look so inferior to its neighbors justifiably, less you forget, all airports are gateways to nations and how you treat incoming passengers is tied to how they will view you as a nation of people.
Sad that he mentions that the only personnel who are remotely helpful are NOT Kuwaiti. This needs to change.
There’s also another shorter review spreading around too.
But really sad, especially when you realize that this is your first and last impression of Kuwait.
What i understand the root cause is the mentality of the people here. Please dont take it as an insult but from a person who has lived in this country for so long, i want to give my sincere opinion.
-The majority youth of this country do not care about the welfare of this country.
-They dont care if kuwait is compared to LA or Dubai.
-The attitude shown by many of these people towards expats or travellers is a real pity.
-They for some reason consider themselfs to be a superior race.
-No body sees the beauty of this country and promote tourism here.
-They dont allow expats to invest or for the upliftment of this country in any ways.
-They are busy deporting and finding new ways to make the life of an expat difficult.
-Public funds needs to spend more correctly and where required.
Joe you got that right add one more point
– 99.+% of Kuwaiti’s are very lazy & rude, Go to any public office and observe.
That is far from true.
and +/- 99% of Egyptians lie?
and +/- 99% of Americans are fat,ignorant,loud and dumb?
and +/- 99% of indians/Pakistanis have bad body odor?
and +/- 99% of Philippines want to marry an American for the green card?
It’s easy to generalize any community of people, it is after all in us humans to view patterns and make assumptions based on them. It is however dangerous and wrong to apply these generalizations to an almost complete majority of the people. While a sizable part of these communities may have given us reason to rationalize these assumptions, it is not fair for anyone to be judged/based by them.
Absolutely agree, I was born in this country & people changed A LOT.
Above all, funny part is we love this country & care for its development as appreciation for what it gave us, more than its own children.
Wake up people,
For those who are complaining about the current airport, why not fly out of Shiekh Saad Terminal with FlyDubai and then transfer to an onward connecting flight with Emirates in Dubai on Terminal 3?
Issue solved and every should be happy!
You`re joking right? Maybe I don`t wanna go trough Dubai. Maybe my outbound flight is direct Kuwait to anywhere in Europe.
Then don’t complain about the chaos in the main terminal. Alternatives (FlyDubai) are there but if people don’t want to utilize it then that’s a different story, but the fact remains that alternatives are there.
I do the same thing..as long as there is an alternative carrier flying out of Sheikh Saad terminal via Dubai, I fly them to Dubai, then change aircrafts at Dubai airport to my next destination (Thank you FLYDUBAI!). Yes, it is an inconvenience, but Kuwait is an inconvenience. I understand they were so fed up with the main terminal that any price was worth leaving the worst terminal in the world, KIA. I did hear a rumor that Emirates wants to move there also and that is a brilliant idea, which would take alot of foot traffic out of the main terminal and make SST a more vibrant location. MOVE THE PRIVATE PLANES so that Emirates can come in and THEN all our problems will be solved – make it a UAE terminal and make the airport immigration officers go through PR training like in Dubai. Emirates Airlines is one of the best airlines in the world and it is a shame that they are treated so poorly at the main terminal. Bottom-line is this, airports are important gateways for all countries and how an airport is run is a reflection of that government’s performance level – it is a reflection of ALL Kuwaitis. So, if you continue to be silent on a very important project like the airport project, you will continue to look poorly by all visitors who have the unfortunate experience of having to endure the incompetence levels at KIA.
Can we also talk about how the departing passengers and arriving passengers mingle in the same area?
I don’t think I have seen any other Airport in the world, where this happens. What’s the rationale behind it?
There is none. Bad, short-sighted design
Well, since the govt. funded airport will take ages, why not Al Shaya just make an airport inside the Avenues as part of Phase LXII?
As a “local” expat, I don’t mind the airport as long as waits are short (which they have been over the last few years).
I will say that the airport is a mess and a terrible first impression for new visitors. Kuwait should build a completely new airport for the sake of its image.
Busyness is the most thing that I hate about KIA. Few weeks ago, I took someone to the airport and waited 3 hours in the Kuwait airways line. During that, the checkin employees were nearly screaming the travellers in the link (customers ! ) as an attempt to organise the lines)…
There won’t be any other airport till at least 3-4 years as the bid submission have been postponed till August. So set your minds to live with it people !!! Nothing can be done here…
Nothing will change, corruption means the rich get richer, prices increase while salaries are stagnant, population increases yet infrastructure and highways stay the same. The good thing about being Kuwaiti is that you can go to Qatar and try to swap your nationality, they are looking to increase their population.
I worked on the New Doha International Airport for 5 years around 10 years ago and it only opened like 2 years ago and it is still being done and wont really be done for another 10 years as they open more phases, point is Airports are MONSTER projects that take years, not just 3-4 years, if you are building a new terminal like they are in Abu Dhabi or Muscat it can take that length of time, but for a new airport your looking at around 10 years especially in the Middle East (Europe and Asia will have faster build times as they have better access to manpower and resources and not subject to weather issues).
Kuwait airport is seriously depressing, and is one of the worst experiences one feels in Kuwait for me, enough to make me not want to leave for the weekends, as I like my weekend get aways even if its to another gulf country, but is that even worth it when you got to put yourself through the nightmare that is Kuwait Airport? it really is shocking for a country so advanced in so many ways.
Tell him to shove his opinion down his rear end all the way out of his mouth. Then shove it back his rear end again and keep repeating until his insides become clear of bullshit that he’s spreading online.
He talks about UAE?
Fuck him. UAE would deport him if he simply tweet about them.
Seems like you have a fascination with his rear end. Typical. lol
calm tf down, dude. why are you getting so upset? as far as i know, everything this guy mentioned was true. i, along with many others i’m sure, have experienced it as well. face the facts, the airport is a fucking mess and we def need either a new airport or a major overhaul on the current one.
if you think he’s spewing bs atleast state your reasons why ’cause as of right now your comment reeks of butthurt.
and what tf does this have to do with deporting people!?! it’s so fucking irrelevant, man. anyway, if at anytime the uae were to deport this guy for a tweet, at least he gets to go through a better airport lol.
Truth hurts?
I truly doubt that a new airport will solve anything other than the parking space and probably a better duty free shops. Actually, many solutions can be done to make things better in our current airport (not necessary perfect) without having to wait for another 10 years.
The main problem in our airport (and most government buildings) is the lack of responsibility and difficult attitude. I really believe that our new airport -if built- will have dirty toilets, have queues in immigration, no clear information and security officers who will end up smoking anywhere they want.
I currently work at the airport in one of the departments that is involved in projects. I wish i can explain to you guys how difficult it is to just simply make the airport better, what I realized is that no matter how HARD or how much EFFORT we put into work, one phone call from a higher influence can change everything in a matter of seconds, i was working on a project for almost 9 months and one simple phone call just changed everything. It really kills our morale and makes us feel like what we do is just rubbish when we try to solve the problems that occur at the airport. And honestly it’s not just the higher influences but also the employees that we have, a lot of them simply give up in life and do what pleases them, no matter how much we critisize and speak about these issues, being a governmental sector, no one can do shit unfortuneatly ! Believe me i can rant on and on and on, and it’s not even the tip of an iceberg .. All we can say is Allah Kareem
hey wanna email me some examples so i can share it? Anonymously of course
i’d love to mail you examples, but as usual the kuwaiti government keeps on changing the idea and design of the building .. Once i know the whole story i will give you more details of whats going on! But right now everything is just screwed and it feels like we’re in a game of Jumanji
As much as it pains me as a Kuwaiti citizen to read something this scathing, I’m very inclined to agree with just about every point brought up in this person’s review [as well as the other shorter review being circulated on WhatsApp].
Kuwait International IS a mess in every conceivable way – what was once a beautifully-designed example of architecture was badly desecrated in a series of cheaply-built expansions that detracted from the charms and nuances of the original structure, every recent renovation to the terminal building looks like plastic, the facility is grossly over capacity and the human element alone requires medication if thought about.
Come on, people, face it: KWI’s officials are, for the most part, a bloody joke. Nearly everyone IS too preoccupied by their cellphones to give a damn – from the people at security scanning your bags en route to the aircraft [how disconcerting], the officers at customs on arrival and the officers at passport control. Their rudeness is alarming – I’ve yet to encounter a single female who hasn’t looked at me as if I was disturbing her when handing her my passport on arrival, asking me where I came from with sharp tones of annoyance and who hasn’t basically tossed my passport back at me through the partition. The check-in zones are badly laid-out, signage is relatively poor, the bathrooms are disgusting, people smoke where they want despite the bans and the entire building is well past its sell-by date.
This, unfortunately, sets an embarrassingly bad impression of Kuwait for people arriving and a bitter aftertaste for those leaving. Our airport does represent the ineptitudes we encounter on a daily basis in Kuwait and unfortunately, it’s run by people who don’t take their jobs seriously enough. If the authorities don’t care, how do you expect customers like you and I to?
Unless drastic reforms are undertaken by the respective authorities – builders/architects for a new building that is so very desperately needed, officials who slam the hammer down on officers working within the facility and all other involved parties – then our overburdened airport will only continue to slip further into oblivion as the new terminal fades into the sadly justified realm of “all talk, no action.”
+1 Kuwait is going to need more citizens like you to change it from within.
We have a trolly mafia. 500 fils and you won’t have to worry about pulling a back muscle. Kuwait airport wins, hands down.
Carry your own luggage, like the other 185 countries of the world (I removed 11 countries to factor for places like saudi, dubai etc).
I remember having a bout of nausea prior to my flight a few weeks ago. I went to the bathroom to upchuck and seeing the filthy conditions made me even more nauseous. Almost missed my flight because of that. You’d probably find a cleaner bathroom in the central prison.
Everyone will love Kuwait airport once they have been to Dammam airport, I say this by experience.
Every time I fly in or out of Kuwait Airport… I die a little
I do feel sad reading these kind of views sometimes. It was not this way when I was growing up here. The airport though small compared to now was run relatively well. Sure there were queues and frustrations now and then. However, there was basic humanity in how the airport was run. Staff were friendly and I remember though being Indian,the security guards/immigration officers were very kind & considerate to all expatriates irrespective of nationality. I personally remember a kind security guard picking me up and playing with me while my parents waited in queue.
Fast forward to now and from the minute you enter the airport, you are hassled by the trolley mafia (yes – if you are an expatriate you must have experienced it) who demand money for you to take the trolley to the check-in counter while the security guard just gazes into the smartphone. I personally had to push a guy away because he blocked my way into the airport and threatened to take him to the police after which he got scared and made way. How many people would have paid the man? Does somebody get a cut? Who knows? The rest about the check-ins, boarding headaches etc. are aptly described in the scathing review.
Racial discrimination is hugely apparent. The immigration guys treat south asians as cattle and allow the Europeans/Americans towards the counter received for GCC citizens. English is practically not understood by many of the staff and many are not even aware of what’s going on at the airport. I can understand if this is the case inside the country – but at an airport which is the first point of contact for a foreigner in your country – this is a bare necessity.
People are not asking for much really. These are cultural attitudes that can be changed. Infrastructure limitations can be forgiven but cultural attitudes permanently scar a person’s image of a country.
I arrived to the airport yesterday and immigration was empty, so I went up to the counter and stood for 5 minutes waiting until the lady officer was done checking her phone, connecting it to her battery pack and then put on her earphones. I was sooo close to ask her if she was busy and if I should go to a different line instead.
Chill out guys..
At least its better than Islamabad international Airport (Pakistan).
Kuwait is Kuwait. It will never change. Find comfort in chaos is my advise.