New Longest A330neo Route: Kuwait Airways Adds Washington Dulles

On Thursday, Kuwait Airways filed its expansive winter schedule, including its second destination in North America, representing the world's longest regularly scheduled Airbus A330neo flight. Per a report by aeroroutes, the flag carrier of Kuwait will add flights to Washington-Dulles, Barcelona, and Taif, Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the airline will extend routes like Athens into its winter schedule.

[KWI,IAD]

Kuwait Airways will operate thrice-weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to Washington-Dulles on its Airbus A330-800 from December 15, 2023. KU Flight 115 will depart from the airline's primary 8 A.M. bank in Kuwait City and arrive in Washington D.C. at 1:55 P.M. KU Flight 116 will depart Washington D.C. at 4:30 P.M. and arrive in Kuwait City at 1:00 P.M. the next day.

Kuwait Airways previously announced its new flights to Barcelona and Taif, Saudi Arabia as part of an aggressive 20 destination expansion for the Kuwait government-owned airline. Both of the flights will be thrice weekly, with Barcelona notably on the airline's Airbus A320neo. All three of its new routes are not available for the summer season as of the time of writing.

In a statement, Kuwait Airways CEO Maen Razouqi states that these routes are "in implementation of the strategic plans to expand the airline's network around the world and enter new markets that meet the desires of our valued passengers."

The airline previously announced flights to Berlin and several other cities in Saudi Arabia as part of its winter foray. These routes are notably absent from Kuwait Airways' winter schedule. Additionally, Kuwait Airways will suspend flights to Kuala Lumpur for the winter.

Kuwait Airways is not the first airline to try flights from Washington-Dulles to Kuwait City. United Airlines launched the route in October 2006 thrice-weekly on a Boeing 777-200, and ended service in early 2016 with a tag-on flight to Manama, Bahrain.
 

Kuwait Airways was the launch customer of the Airbus A330-800, debuting its latest iteration of business class on the aircraft. The aircraft showcases 235 seats, including 32 business-class lie-flat seats in a 1-2-1 configuration and 205 economy-class seats in a 2-4-2 configuration.

In an interview with Sam Chui, Kuwait Airways CEO Maen Razouqi highlighted the value of the Airbus A330-800, specifically in North America. He stated, "We believe the A330-800 will be an enabler for us to fly nonstop from Kuwait to North America … it will take us to New York JFK on better margins." The newest flight to Washington-Dulles is a byproduct of the Airbus A330-800's high-range and smaller-size cabin.

The Longest A330neo Route

Kuwait Airways flights to Washington-Dulles with the Airbus A330-800 will outplace Kuwait Airways' flights to New York's JFK as the longest A330neo flights in the world. Flights westbound from Kuwait City to Washington D.C. are blocked at 13 hours and 55 minutes and 6,575 miles (5713 nm) away. Flights eastbound are blocked at 12 hours and 30 minutes. 

Both of Kuwait Airways' flights are notably more long-range than the longest Airbus A330-900 flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo-Haneda on Delta Air Lines, based on blocked flight hours. 

While unpopular, the Airbus A330-800 was always marketed as the longer-range variant of the Airbus A330neo family with a marketed range of 8150 nm. To date, only 7 Airbus A330-800 are delivered with an additional four orders slated for Garuda Indonesia. Air Greenland, Kuwait Airways, and Uganda Airlines are the only operators of the type. 

The Airbus A330-900 has proven to be the more popular sister of the two variants. Kuwait Airways itself has orders for seven Airbus A330-900s, and are slated to debut a new Elite Suite business class. Furthermore, Kuwait Airways has on order two Airbus A350-900s to round out its long-haul fleet. 

Recently, Reuters reported that the airline is facing delivery delays on some of its Airbus aircraft. Nonetheless, Kuwait Airways is optimistic about its future with its opportunities for expansion. The airline highlighted a 30 percent jump in passenger revenue growth in the first half of 2023 and forecasts a profit by 2025.