After flying Kuwait Airways’ A330 first class and spending a night at the Waldorf Astoria Kuwait, I flew Kuwait Airways’ Boeing 777-300ER first class on the 6hr5min flight from Kuwait City (KWI) to Bangkok (BKK). As I explained previously, my motivation for taking this flight was simple — Kuwait Airways is the second to last airline in the world that I hadn’t flown in first class, and I wanted to finally check it off my list (for those curious, Starlux is the last).
I think “check it off my list” very much sums up the experience, because it’s something I don’t have to repeat. Truth be told, aspects of the experience were quite good — Kuwait Airways’ first class suites are comfortable, the flight attendants were friendly, and the food was abundant.
At the same time, nothing about the soft product felt first class. The food quality was “meh.” The milk frother was broken, limiting the coffee beverages that could be prepared (a bit more important on a dry airline!). The Wi-Fi was broken. The entertainment selection was awful. There were no amenity kits.
Kuwait Airways’ 777 first class seats are comfortable
The most competitive aspect of the Kuwait Airways first class experience is the seats. The cabin has eight first class suites with doors, which are spacious.
Each seat has a large ottoman that doubles as a buddy seat, quite a bit of storage, and even a little minibar.
Now, there are soft quirks. For example, all the seat functions have to be controlled by a panel next to the seat, yet every single time you want to use the panel, you have to first “start” the system and then select your language, which seems like something that could easily be simplified.
Furthermore, while the bed is spacious, I found the seat padding to be lacking, and the bedding provided by the airline is more of a mattress sheet than a mattress pad, so I didn’t find the surface comfortable for sleeping.
Kuwait Airways’ first class service was well intentioned
The crew on this flight exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations. I was being served by a Moroccan woman who had been at the airline for 23 years (!!!!), as well as a Thai-Indian woman. They were both friendly and responsive, and did the best they could.
They were attentive during the meal service, but as you’d expect, training isn’t on the same level as on carriers like Emirates. Despite being one of two adult passengers (the other traveler was a mother with a young child), I was never addressed by name, or received any level of attentiveness I wouldn’t expect in business class.
Still, I appreciated their kind spirit, as they definitely made me feel welcome. Best I could tell, there were no Kuwaiti men working the cabin of this flight, which surprised me.
Kuwait Airways’ food is quantity over quality
The quantity of food on this flight was kind of unreal, though maybe the airline should focus on quality instead. The food was okay, but probably a step below Qatar Airways business class in terms of quality and variety.
Lunch was served after takeoff. For the appetizer, I was presented with the mezze, which included hummus, grapevine leaves, and lamb and beetroot kibbeh. There was also honey sriracha salmon with avocado cream. Lastly, there was a mesclun salad. I’m not sure if the airline always serves passengers both appetizers plus the salad, or if it’s because I was the only one eating.
I thought the mezze was rather unimpressive compared to what you’ll find on virtually any other airline in the region, the salmon was kind of chewy, and the salad was super unimaginative.
I was also served a cream of chicken soup with croutons, which was quite good.
I didn’t find the main course options to be very inspiring, and selected the Singapore chicken noodles. What I was served was… not like any Singapore inspired chicken noodles I’ve had before. There were two “scoops” of noodles, a chicken breast, and an overly sweet Thai chili sauce flooding the plate.
By the way, there were no Middle Eastern options on the menu for the main course. The other options were deep fried shrimp, penne pesto pasta, and Mongolian beef.
Lastly, for dessert I had a fruit plate, as well as a mango coconut entremet. The mango coconut dessert was the best part of the meal.
Then there was a snack service before landing, with sandwiches that tasted like they were created in a culinary partnership with American Airlines.
Given that Kuwait Airways is a dry airline, you’d think the airline could invest in having an amazing non-alcoholic drink selection, with all kinds of smoothies, juices, etc. Heck, I’d settle for the milk frother working. Unfortunately that was broken on this flight, so it wasn’t even possible to have a cappuccino.
Kuwait Airways’ entertainment issues
Speaking of things that were broken, Wi-Fi was also broken on this flight, despite it theoretically being available on the 777s. You’d almost think that there’s a correlation between airlines being dry and Wi-Fi not working, since this was the second consecutive dry airline I flew (with the other one being EgyptAir), and also the second consecutive flight where Wi-Fi wasn’t working. Otherwise I don’t remember the last time I was on a flight where the Wi-Fi didn’t work.
Unfortunately Kuwait Airways’ entertainment selection didn’t really come to the rescue either. There were around 60 movies and around 40 TV shows, but that included options in both English and Arabic. For example, below was the extent of the TV shows in the comedy category…
I’m happy I finally had the chance to check Kuwait Airways’ 777 first class off my list, given for long I’ve been meaning to fly it. I’d say the experience was the most basic version of what I could have anticipated. Kuwait Airways has spacious seats and I had a friendly crew, but other than that, there was nothing first class about this experience.
The food seemed to be more about quantity over quality, and there wasn’t much in the way of amenities. What I found most disappointing was the things that weren’t working, like the Wi-Fi and milk frother. C’mon, get the basics right. The flight was also just plain “boring” — this wasn’t like TAAG Angola first class, where the captain was about to take out his boxing gloves against me (to be clear, that’s probably a good thing!).
Look, here’s the thing, though. My takeaway isn’t “oh, Kuwait Airways should improve its first class.” No, the airline probably shouldn’t, because it won’t move the needle much with consumer demand. Kuwait Airways is a boutique carrier primarily serving a local market, and that’s fine. If you’re traveling to & from Kuwait, you’ll probably fly with the airline, because most consumers value a convenient schedule.
I do think the airline should probably discontinue first class, or at least scale it back, since it seems to be consistently empty on all but the New York and London routes.
