Kuwait Airlines pulls New York-London
 

With all the options available between JFK and LHR, it would seem that this gentleman had a political reason to try to book with Kuwait rather than a desire to fly with them and the Americans have fallen for it.

That is a no brainer, obvious who America will support


Ian

AFAIK, Kuwait doesn't recognise the State of Israel. As the airline is owned by the Kuwaiti State, it would be unlikely their booking engine would accept the passport details.

JAS

This route wil continue operating but not pick passengers, it had been on since 1970s, no one bothered about it all this time, till this guy took it to court. All started post 9/11 the first incident was in 2002, second one in 2013.

What would be the point of that?

The route via Heathrow operates on days that the direct route to New York doesn't, thereby giving them both a Heathrow connection and a New York tag-on.

To replace it they'd need to roster two separate flights for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays which would presumably be quite disruptive at short notice. Easier just to take a ( slight ) revenue hit by dropping the fifth-freedom bookings.

Perhaps for Summer 2016 they'll rejig the flights accordingly.

I used to love doing this sequence in the 747-200.

Given the way the US attempts to override the laws of other countries, this bit amused me:

At least they're enforcing their own law in their own country this time.

Well, the US government wouldn't want to annoy a particularly vocal monority of their population, that votes would they?

Here's how the story plays to the fans in New York:

Jew-hating airline cancels flight rather than allow Israeli passengers | New York Post

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Not sure why we bothered liberating a country like that, though.

Yup, I use to love that sequence on the 747-200.
2 days night stop in London, 3 days in New York, 2 days
In London on the way back, then return to the sandbox.
Per-diem paid in cash at the hotel, nice joints downtown.

Kuwait Airlines pulls New York-London
 

AI pulled this route a few years back. It also had full 5th freedom rights and the route was once/day. Could it be that both carriers are no longer able to compute against BA-AA and VS-DL on LHR-JFK?

AI had an excellent reputation back in the day whenthe route was started as an extension of its BOM-LHR route. It has seen a shocking decline in reputation and standards in recent years, certainly enough to delay its admission to the Star Alliance. KU has always been "dry", so fares would have to be dirt cheap. Both carriers also now operate direct services.

Could the recent incidents have hastened a decision that was imminent anyway?

The law in Kuwait makes it illegal for citizens (and businesses) to trade with Israel.

Based on that, it seems that the airline would have had no choice in the matter – they couldn't legally comply with the US demand, and therefore had no choice to pull the flight.

Much better article here:


It's Easy To Blame Kuwait Airways For Discrimination Against Israelis -- But It's Wrong

Forbes Welcome

I can't see this mentioned on the thread but this person has dual American Israeli nationality. I doubt he is stupid and knew very well that Kuwait does not recognise Israel. Why did he insist on using his Israeli passport and not his American one??? There is more to this than what the biased mainstream media is telling us. Seems like he had an ulterior motive from the start.... Whatever that motive would be...

I don't have any issue with his motive, honestly. If I was part of a group that was being discriminated at I would challenge it too.

However, I do take issue with the people blaming the airline for what has happened; it's not the airline's fault.

The passenger had originally booked with Air India but later discovered that the New York to Heathrow segment was code-shared and actually operated by Kuwait Airways ( this had been in place since 2009, AIC6336 operated by KAC102 ), which wasn't caught at the time of booking. Hence he was ineligible to board.

Kuwait Airways can still operate New York to Kuwait direct because the entry conditions in the destination country over-ride ticketing regs. However that was not the case between NY and London, since an Israeli passport is acceptable in both those countries.