KUWAIT: The total number of passengers recorded at Kuwait International Airport amounted to 8.2 million between the start of this year until September 28, a ranking aviation official revealed on Monday. The number of departing passengers reached some 4.3 million and whole arrivals reached 3.8 million during the same period, said Saleh Al-Fdaghi, the Deputy Director General for Kuwait International Airport Affairs at the Directorate for Civil Aviation. Up to 68,621 planes flew to and from the air facility during the same duration, he said, adding that Istanbul, Cairo, Dubai and Doha were the top destinations in demand between June 1 and August 31 -- the peak of the travel and tourism season. The overall number of the aircraft that came and left to Istanbul reached 2,433 boarding 388,155 people and the total figure of the flights to and from Cairo hit 303,300 with 317,177 passengers on board.
Elaborating, Fdaghi said up to a total 1,921 flights were recorded to and from Dubai transporting 303,300 passengers, those with Doha 1,314 with 195,635 travelers and with Jeddah, 1,158 with 138,327 travelling people. He also disclosed in the interview with the Kuwaiti news agency that the number of operating companies at the airport range between 40 and 45, noting that the figure changes with each season due to the facility open air policy. As to the accommodation capacity, he said there are four passenger terminals, namely T1, the main building with a current capacity of 7.5 million passengers. However, in the past years, particularly during the corona crisis in 2019, "we used to host more than 13 million passengers per year."
As to T4 terminal, it can serve some 4.5 passengers per annum, but since its operation and expansion of the Kuwait Airways fleet and its operating plans, the terminal has served more than five million passengers a year. Fdaghi noted that Sheikh Saad terminal (T3) provides services higher than its recorded capacity, likewise T5, expressing hope that the airport would serve the mounting numbers of the passengers via all the terminals that operate above the capacity levels. He declared that Kuwait International Airport, unlike many other air facilities across the globe, succeeded during the summer travel season and the corona crisis peak, in operating regularly.
Travelers used to suffer from delays in receiving their baggage and bags before the year 2018 because the main terminal operated much higher than the ceiling of its capacity, ranging between 5.5 million and 7.5 million passengers per year, he divulged, affirming the new terminals eased off the pressure at the facility, although some pressure continue to be sensed particularly during the peak travel seasons.