Kuwait Airways has let go of 1,350 Kuwaiti nationals during the past two years, part of a plan to cut costs and return to profit by 2019, the chief executive of the state-owned carrier told Reuters on Thursday. “Since two years, almost 1,600 people left the airline, taking the golden handshake,” said Chief Executive Abdullah Al Sarhan, referring to redundancy packages. The company is still reviewing a plan to let go of 1,000 non-Kuwaiti staff under a plan first announced in 2014, Sarhan added. Kuwait Airways has posted losses each year bar one since the Iraqi invasion and since 2012, the govt has strived to improve the airline’s finances. The carrier posted a KWD33 million dinar (USD109 million) loss in 2014, versus KWD67 million in 2013. “We have an initial target of three years from now to be positive, so we’re talking about 2018-2019,” he said. The turnaround measures included converting Kuwait Airways to an independent, albeit state-owned company and allowing it to circumvent the audit bureau, which enabled the carrier to order new planes for the first time since the Iraqi invasion. The govt is also funding a new fleet, and Kuwait Airways ordered 35 Boeing and Airbus aircraft in 2014, and agreed to lease 12 Airbus aircraft. The airline plans to review its flight routes, and cut out unprofitable ones while boosting flights on more popular segments. (Gulf News)