Wataniya prepares to take on big carriers

Wataniya Airways’ boss said the premium class airline has an advantage in Kuwait as good service is hard to find.

The airline, which launched in January 2009, has recently announced double-daily routes from Kuwait to Dubai, Beirut, Bahrain and Cairo, but the airlines’ CEO George Cooper said there was still a lot more to come from the short-haul carrier.

"I’m so excited because there is so much we can do. We are trialing a lot of things and we have found the Kuwaiti’s to be big international travellers.

"They are looking for good service and at the moment that is hard to find in Kuwait, so for us there is a lot of opportunity."

The airline currently flies to destinations across the Gulf and although Cooper does not anticipate the airline adopting any long-haul routes he stressed that quality of service was important to the carrier.

"We have a completely different service to other airlines," Cooper said. "We are trying to take advantage of the fact that we are a small airline and the others are huge, therefore we can offer a personalised service, which puts us in a strong position."

He did admit that the market was becoming increasingly competitive however.

"The problem is we offer good service, and good inflight entertainment but it is hard to get across to the market that this is different and experiential.

"The challenge is to get people to try the service," he added.

Wataniya Airways currently has two aircraft on its fleet but it will expand to a fleet of seven aircraft by the end of 2010.