I know it feels weird talking about Kuwait Airways and plane interiors when most of us aren’t planning to travel any time soon (or at least until the 2-week quarantine on arrival rule is removed) but, around a week ago, Kuwait Airways took delivery of the world’s first Airbus A330-800.
This is a brand new plane built from scratch for Kuwait Airways and can accommodate 235 passengers, 203 in Economy Class, and 32 in Business Class. The interior is as current as you can get and the Kuwait Airways Business Class finally looks competitive. Check out the interior yourself in the video above.
20 replies on “Inside the New Kuwait Airways Planes”
I thought kuwait was supposedly banning french products? or does it just apply to cheese?
Only Kiri and Perrier
Banning at individual level. if the authorities started banning then the French would be in deep shit.
Airbus is multinational European company not just French, it’s parts are made in several countries in and outside Europe. Plus even if it was French, Aircraft are generally delivered after two or more years from the original order and buying date.
The blue and grey looks bland. Still think it’s not competitive with Qatar or Emirates just by looks.
Hmmm it’s kinda similar to British Airways and I’m a BA fan although theirs is a slightly darker grey. Emirates looks borderline tacky sometimes but yeah I think I prefer Qatar Airways more.
I’ll start this comment with my gratitude at KU finally having a competitive, fresh new product that raises the bar on its current offerings. This is easily their best interior on any of their aircraft.
That being said, I wish they went just a bit further:
1. Maybe the video and photos don’t properly show this, but why are the cabins so sterile? There are no patterns or inlays on the bulkheads, seats or anywhere in the cabin – white and blue, period. For their flagship product, a little imagination and some thoughtful details would have done a lot to make the product seem that much more complete rather than barebones.
2. More relevant in the age of COVID than anything else, but why didn’t KU elect to install doors on their business class seats the way British Airways did with their new Club Suites? The seats are the same seats as BA’s [Collins Aerospace Super Diamond], and nobody other than Qatar Airways currently offers a business class seat with doors among the Gulf airline set. Again, an opportunity for KU to set itself apart that it missed.
3. Will the in-flight entertainment offerings improve? Offering highly-censored and outdated content is one thing, but having a tiny library on top of that is another. When Emirates and Qatar offer passengers more programming than one knows what to do with, Kuwait can at least offer more than a few weak episodes of old TV.
4. Will this finally be the moment that KU steps up its food and beverage? I’m not saying they need to go back to individual plating off a rolling buffet cart [anybody remember those days?], but if Kuwait does anything well, it’s food. An airline is an ambassador to and portrait of its home country, so KU should really capitalize on this.
5. Will the service improve? Most KU staff I’ve encountered vary from nice but disillusioned to straight-up rude. The airline should tighten its screws on training, select better candidates and offer a more attractive relocation package to lure quality crew to base themselves in Kuwait and work for the airline. Companies are defined by their people, so a happy crew will translate into a better experience for passengers.
Kuwait has the local talent and know-how to be so much better and offer more than it currently does, so it disappoints me to see it yet again barely check the box and wheeze by with a C rather than put a little more effort in to get an A.
All i read is negative. Its an a330, who told you it is their flagship? Where do you people get this information?!
Its sterile because it is? There is no need to spend extra money on it if no one is flying and trust me no one cares about the interior people want to go from point A to point B cheaply, thats a fact.
Covid aint gonna last forever and you seriously comparing an a330 to a ba 350? Your comparing this lower mid market plane to the high end product? Other airlines have dont even use the 1-2-1 configuration let alone super diamond seats on their a330. Qatar airways uses regular 2-2-2 configuration and emirates uses 2-3-2 on their 777. Qatar uses the plane super diamond on their ultra long haul 787. If you want doors I recommend you pay for them because no one else is especially not for an a330. And the european carriers dont even bother with 1-2-1 seat layouts.
Inflight entertainment lacks but.. its Kuwait? You knew it what censorship goes on here and you know its the law of the land. They are stopping you from watching Netflix and this plane has the newest internet system so you can roam all day.
Kuwait airways has the best meals. That isnt a debate, i dont know where you flew from or what decade you flew Kuwait airways but i fly them 8 times a year and have been for the past 5 years, the staff are regularly nice, nicer than the BA people who people love just cause they are british even tho they are snobby af . The food is beyond good. If you can do better then work for ka and tell them to add a lounge, shower and buffet on their a320 even then I doubt you’d be satisfied.
Christ if i ran k.a and read all your negative comments id simply buy back all their old rundown planes they sold and refuse to maintain them because no matter what they do you people wont be satisfied.
Not trying to be negative towards Kuwait Airways or anything but you’re totally wrong about a few things:
You stated that nobody cares about the plane interior and that “all they want to do is get from point A to B cheaply”. You also stated that’s a fact which it 100% isn’t. Kuwait Airways isn’t a budget airline and people who fly it do care about the interior (literally the #1 complaint about Kuwait Airways before was the poor old interiors). If people only cared about flying cheaply they’d fly no frills Jazeera or Fly Dubai. Kuwait Airways on the other hand is directly competing with the likes of BA, Qatar Airways and Emirates. Kuwait Airways is more expensive than Jazeera and Fly Dubai because it’s not a cheap budget airline.
Qatar Airways has a 1 – 2 – 2 seating arrangement btw (I’ve flown it a bunch of times).
Regarding food, I don’t think I’ve ever Kuwait Airways in a Top 10 or Top 20 best airline food list. I just tried googling and didn’t have any luck so if you can share a source for Kuwait Airways having the best meals or one of the best meals or at least better meals than Qatar Airways or Emirates please share it.
2 things.
For the qatar airways i was comparing their a330 to Kuwait’s a330. Im comparing the same aircraft type.
I recommend asking your non-kuwaiti fellow passenger why they flew kuwait airways.
When i fly to london the aircraft is filled with Indian passengers, not because they love kuwait, not because kuwait has the best interior but because it’s the cheapest option that is decent. The same with Europeans using kuwait airways to fly to asia, they dont like kuwait, we dont have an amazing airport, we dont have a known brand but when using price comparison websites kuwait is usually the cheapest or cheapest option which gets you there quickly.
Kuwait airways know this very well that is why they are expanding into europe and asia, they are looking for places where passengers appreciate the price and that is why they want to use this plane for newyork routes.
The a330-8 is cheap to operate so it makes their seats cheaper and basically it is in a way what they are aiming for. Ask people you know at Kuwait Airways, they know the only reason people (outside of kuwait) fly with Kuwait Airways is because it is the cheapest best option on price comparison websites.
They literally said the a330-8 will make the new york route more cheaper to fly compared to the competition, not more fancy, not more comfortable. cheaper. Like i said ask people you know why they bought the a330 and why people outside Kuwait fly this airline.
for the food I definitely over emphasised, I was triggered by the b.a comment. my entire experience with b.a has been awful. the food in Kuwait Airways is good, I fly with them a lot and never had a complaint. I do however mainly fly long-haul which was why I got confused about a first-class sandwich comment below. I competely understand that you aint being negative but I get pissed when people compare two completely different aircraft types like the person why complained on a previous post that the 777 didn’t have a shower while other a380s did.
I do have a lot of issues with Kuwait Airways im pissed that they don’t do e-boarding passes even though the airport accepts them now and that the crew need courses on how make announcements, I don’t like having the same thing said 4 times and in very loud voices. I have issues with the bathrooms and no available ice for coke (who drinks warm coke?!?!). however their services and e-services (including web and app) are lacking a lot, I know people have a lot of trouble getting refunds off ka and im finding it impossible to use my points. im not a in love with them but I prefer criticism that makes sense compared to just complaining because you can.
I don’t know why people keep acting like Kuwait Airways’ food is Michelin-star quality food? It’s terrible! It always smells bad when they prepare it, and my parents felt unwell from the economy class meals on more than one occasion. I still remember the upset stomach I had from eating one of their hot sandwiches in first class!
I think the whole “Kuwait Airways has the best food!” is just pure nostalgia. I too was one of the people who claimed the food was top notch but after flying KA a few times recently, I realized quickly that it was out of good memories. #bring_back_the_murabyan
What routes would the Airbus 330-800 operate?
for the a330s most likely
1. KWI to east – upto indian subcontinent
2. KWI to west – till the edge of Europe say LHR
all this is this is subject to load, any destinations beyond – most likely operate their b777s
Im glad we have it, the a330-8 can fly to anywhere nonstop. I believe this plane will help us travel the world, it is super cheap to run and easy to fill (because it’s small). Kuwait airways is still panning go spend 4 billion more on planes so I hope to get more of these and the a350.
Does KU not do First Class anymore ?
This product looks spiffy. I only hope they’d do something about their in flight entertainment which is light years away from what the Cathays and the Lufthansas of the world have to offer. That and in flight cabin service are the Achilles heel for Kuwait Airways. Once they are able to crack those two, they are on the road to recovery.
I really hope non-stop flights to Tokyo open up, soon (even if after the COVID situation calms down)
Thanks Mark for sharing this. Yes the new plane interior is awesome and so much better than anything we had before. Kuwait Airways has improved so much and it deserves more bums in seats now. I travelled out from the Kuwait Airways T4 terminal a few weeks ago and had the most hassle-free departure and arrival here in Lahore Pakistan that I was speechless. I have been sharing my positive experience however I can including here. I hope Kuwait Airways keeps up the good work and maintains it’s routes.
Kuwait airways new A330neo has Collins Aerospace Super Diamond Business class seats with 1-2-1 configration at 78 inches & 18 inch economy class seats with 33 inch pitch that’s easily the most comfortable A330 configuration out there well done KAC!