State-owned Kuwait Airways Corp, which has faced serious financial problems for more than a decade, got a new chairman Saturday, six months after its former chief quit, the official KUNA news agency reported.
In a decree, the oil-rich emirate's Finance Minister Mahmud al-Nuri appointed Sheikh Talal Mubarak Abdullah al-Sabah to the top post at KAC, which has made a profit only once since 1990.
Outgoing chairman Ahmad al-Zaben resigned in February, citing the government's failure to "provide the necessary support to overcome the difficulties and obstacles" facing the airline.
Sheikh Talal, a member of the al-Sabah ruling family, joined KAC in 1977 and has been its general manager since 1999.
The national carrier has suffered from cashflow problems and debts which peaked at 1.4 billion dollars after the August 1990-February 1991 Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, when it lost 86 percent of its capital.