Communications minister suspends KAC Chairman

Minister of Communications Essa Al-Kandari reaffirmed Monday the modernization of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) "is not disputed" in order to regain reputation of the national carrier. Al-Kandari however said he decided suspend KAC Board Chairman Sami Al-Nisf "because of his insistance" to purchase five used aircraft despite previous agreement to modernize the carrier's entire fleet. "But a sudden change happened in the direction of buying used aircraft, so I have requested the halt of this deal but the insistance of KAC Board Chairman Sami Al-Nisf forced me to suspend him so he would not place the government before an unavoidable matter," he said in a statement. Al-Kandari said discovered in one of the daily newspapers that KAC planned to purchase five aircraft from an Indian airlines with USD 282 million. "I have called the Board Chairman who confirmed the news and I have asked him to stop the deal" and to investigate the "sudden U-turn in the declared policy," he said