Here is another positive airport post, a variety of improvements have been made to the main terminal to accommodate the extra traffic for Eid and the summer. Below are some of the main points taken from an AlQabas article.
– 15% fewer passengers due to the opening of the Jazeera terminal
– Terminal 4 opening in July will also reduce load on main terminal
– Some budget airlines will be moved to Sheikh Saad Terminal (T3)
– New hall for transit passengers
– New hall for visa issuing
– Improvement of air conditioning performance in the airport
– Additional support workforce for the airport
– Luggage drop-off outside the main terminal for Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways
– Self check-in machines
– Installation of shade and cooling sprinklers in departure drop off area
– Additional seating in the arrivals area and the check-in areas
– Check-in areas Zone 2 and 3 will have their on carry-on baggage security checks bypassing the main security check area
– Carry-on security check machines have been increased from 5 to 9
– An increase from two to four immigration entrances on departure. The new entrances are now divided up as follows: First Class and Diplomat passengers, Kuwaiti and GCC citizens, expats and finally, aircraft crew.
– Arriving luggage will be security checked before hitting the conveyor belts speeding up the exit process
– Luggage home delivery with Pearl Assist. They’ll pick your bags up from the conveyor belt and deliver them straight to your home.
There is no mention in the article if they improved immigration services on arrival since currently, that’s probably my least favorite part of the airport.
28 replies on “Improvements to Airport for Upcoming Eid and Summer Traffic”
Would you know what is being referred to here – “Early luggage retrieval outside the airport for Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways”
I am aware of the early luggage drop off facility available for Kuwait Airways at the main terminal itself – have they moved it out to another location now?
The article says the delivery of luggage earlier outside the airport, but now that i re-read it I think they mean the airport receives the luggage from outside the airport earlier not the passengers
just updated the post and reworded that part
there is also pre-checkin for baggage at kuwait airways headoffice – Dajeej, idk if everyone is aware of this.
https://www.kuwaitairways.com/EN/Pages/Pre-Checkin.aspx
The home delivery luggage service sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. What if people’s luggages get stolen or arrive super late? Or worse, the lugagges get damaged?
You send your bags from Kuwait all the way to another country without a care, but you’re concerned with delivering your bags without scratches from the airport to your home?
Most of the time, I have no issues with sending luggages from one country to the next, because most of the time the people handling the luggages are doing their jobs, but recently, I was flying First Class with Kuwait Airways to Dubai, and THEY LEFT ONE LUGGAGE BEHIND! My lugagge was marked as, “Priority”, and they didn’t bother to put it on the plane! I had to wait a day until I could retrieve it. If this kind of nonsense is done with luggage home delivery, I’d rather not use it.
+1
Hello Mark,
Do you have an idea of what airlines will be using the self-check-in machines?
Thanks
nope i don’t
I checked those “Self Check-IN” machines last weekend while dropping someone and it was only Turkish Airlines available. If you look careful at the post picture you`ll notice that only Turkish Airlines symbol is displayed.
when I took the picture a couple of months back it was only Turkish Airlines but I’m guessing it should be for more airlines now?
last week was still TA only.. I would love to see some more airlines available
No mention of training and educating immigration officers?
Like you mentioned “immigration services on arrival since currently, that’s probably my least favorite part of the airport” (Favourite** – You should use a spell checker, they are free. Try Grammarly)
Even at departure the expat’s queues for immigration are long and stretch all the way to the security check (at times) whilst the GCC queue might even have just a mere number of 3-4 passengers waiting in line (till obvs. one of the policeman waves and yells people around attempting to manage juggling between his candy crush and queues).
It would be really good if the staff incl. immigration and security personnel can get some training on how to deal with passengers, politeness and etiquette should be on their course.
Favourite, colour, flavour = British English
Favorite, color, flavor = American English
They both work… but if you set your spell checker to U.S English it will correct “Favourite” to “Favorite” and vice versa.
You learn something new every day huh?
They are both correct spellings as mentioned by the same Grammarly you refer to:
“Favorite and favourite are both correct spellings, depending on whether you use American or British spelling standards. Favorite is preferred in American English, while favourite is preferred in British English. Sometimes, favorite or favourite can be used and the correct form depends on which style guide you follow.”
“Politeness and etiquette should be on their course.”
Heh, that course should be expanded to include all MOI employees.
Hi Mark, you can keep the positive posts rolling with this:
https://www.pressreader.com/kuwait/arab-times/20180607/281492162010483
And then you also have Jazeera Airways receiving the first A320 Neo in the region
Take away the mobiles of the immigration officers.
On another note, in my 20 years of passing through the airport, for the first time last week the lady at the immigration counter ended with “have a nice trip”.
Needless to say, I was shocked at her attitude.
lol you should submit a complaint!
Oh yes!! Even this happened to me last time after i landed here. The guy at the counter said “Warm welcome”. It took me a sec to realize what he was saying coz i was def not expecting that!!
“New hall for visa issuing” … can thus be changed to “New people for visa issuing” ????
The self check-in devices have been there for years, do they work? That’s a different story. There are two at the Kuwait Airways area, two at the line before the security check for departing passengers.
Neither work.
It is like kicking the can down the road – Sheikh Saad terminal has one door for exit, one door to enter, a total capacity of less than 100 passengers; if that. There aren’t even a 100 seats in the entire building! Moving more airlines there is just going to exacerbate the situation.
I am surprised they didn’t mention the obvious things that they can improve – like the long term parking situation. They really should work on the road infrastructure there, but that is not a quick solution I admit.
At least there is progress – hopefully now when my dad visits, he won’t compare it to the “bus terminal in Dammam, which is bigger and cleaner”. Ouch.
These self check in devices are brand new installed a couple of months back.
What ever improvement is done on the infrastructure, how much ever sophisticated the process is going to be, ‘people/STAFF’ is the most important resource which needs the change. Else it is always ever going to be at ‘5.52’ and a waste of money spent on the bricks and steel (except many workers get paid in the project).
what about wifi?
Reporting from the airport. As of 8am the airport is not busy at all. Everything is fast and smooth with the only waiting on checkin counters. Also jazeera’s absence is a huge difference.
The airport was pretty smooth Friday morning. The big problem is immigration when you come back. Yesterday I had to wait for an hour. In Abu Dhabi it was less than three minutes.