Kuwait Airways (NEVER AGAIN !)
Frequent Flyer
Easily the worst ever airline & transit airport ( Kuwait City ) that
I've had the misfortune to have flown with.
I & my wife needed return flights, over the Xmas period, from the
UK to Manila & we were very surprised how cheap (relatively) &
available seats were with Kuwait Airways. I now realise exactly
why. Kuwait Airways are bloody awful. Never again !
At first I thought we'd just been unlucky, outgoing from Heathrow
to Kuwait, but Kuwait to Manila & our subsequent return flights
( Manila - Kuwait - Heathrow ) were just as bad.
The aircraft were obviously very old & cabin facilities had not been
maintained to any kind of decent standard, certainly not on a par
with any other airline that I've flown cattle-class with. Many of the
in-flight, personal entertainment systems ( TV screens / Audio
channels ), including ours, were not working at all. Staff appeared
to be indifferent to passenger's comments/queries regarding this.
My seat, along with a few passengers' to either side of myself, would
not recline at all & foot-rests were broken beyond use.
Kuwait Airways, unlike many other middle-eastern airlines, operate
a no-alcohol policy. However, I've flown with "dry-airlines" before &
Kuwait is the only one that do not even permit passengers to take
alcohol on-board the aircraft. This I found out, prior to our return
journey, after we bought a couple of small tins of San Miguel, from
inside the Manila departure lounge, only to have them taken off us
at the boarding gate by airport security staff. When I asked why, I was
told "Sorry, sir. It's Kuwait Airway's policy."
This backward, medieval policy evenextends to Kuwait City International
Airport, where there isn't even a drop of alcohol available for purchase in
the duty-free shops.
"Duty-free" was a total joke, pricewise anyway. My wife was going to
buy a (very small) box of dates, however the �8 cost changed her mind.
Even the small eating area was a rip-off. They accepted sterling, but told
me that a coffee was �3 & they didn't take coins or give them as change,
so my coffee would have cost me �5. All the food & drink appeared to be
very expensive, compared to all the other airports that I've ever transitted
through.
I realise that Kuwait City airport may be out of the control of Kuwait
Airways, but, unfortunately if you are flying with them you can't help
but *transitting* this horrible, little airport.
Many passengers can be seen sat / laid on the floor, as there are clearly
not enough seats in it's small terminal building. The smoker's glass
shelter was empty, yet many passengers wandered around smoking,
unchallenged by any of the many security staff that were present. The
terminal was very smokey, not pleasant for non-smokers like my wife &
myself.
I wouldn't fly with this airline again even if they were giving away the
tickets free. According to an old saying "you get what you pay for". This
airline should be paying the passengers to use their awful service.