Kuwait Airways withdraws from London-New York market

Kuwait Airways is withdrawing from the New York JFK-London Heathrow market after the US Department of Transportation (DOT) ruled against the carrier in a discrimination case brought by an Israeli citizen earlier this year.

Though the Kuwaiti carrier will continue to operate a 3x weekly New York JFK-Kuwait via London Heathrow service, it is no longer accepting passengers for the UK-US sector and vice versa. According to Airline Route, Kuwait Airways has operated the sectors under 5th Freedom rights since December 1981.

The move follows a DOT directive, issued in October, which ordered Kuwait Airways to open up sales of its tickets to Israeli citizens. The DOT justified the order on the grounds that all operators serving US airports must comply with the country's anti-discrimination laws.

The Kuwaitis subsequently appealed the directive late last month arguing that the exclusion of Israeli citizens from its flights is not discriminatory because the airline complies with the Gulf State's laws allowing for the sale of tickets to all passengers, regardless of race, national origin or religion, so long as they hold a valid, recognized passport.