Al-Khafaji confirms Iraq-Kuwait joint venture airline is a non-starter
A proposed joint airline venture between the governments of Iraq and Kuwait is not going ahead, Iraqi Airways director general Saad Al-Khafaji has said.
Speaking in an interview with Arabian Aerospace which will be published in the May issue of the magazine, the director general reiterated that the 23-year-old dispute between the two countries has now been comprehensively laid to rest. He said the flag carrier is focussed on "building bridges" with its Arab neighbours.
The idea of a joint-venture airline was raised in the original draft of a settlement reached by the two countries in March 2012, when Iraq agreed to pay Kuwait $500 million in compensation to end a Saddam Hussein-era dispute over stolen aircraft.
Some $200 million of that sum was due to be invested by Kuwait towards the establishment of a joint airline operating between the two countries, government officials said at the time.
But Al-Khafaji aid: "Our minister did not approve the joint venture. We paid the $200 million in cash instead."
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