Kuwait to start levying airport service fee on all passengers

All passenger departing from and arriving in Kuwait will face airport service fees starting June 1, 2021, the country’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed.

An airport service fee of KD3 will be levied on departure and a fee of KD2 on arrival, according to a ministerial decision issued by the state minister for Housing Affairs and Services Affairs Abdullah Marafi.

The amount will be added to the passenger’s airline ticket price.

الطيران المدني : القرار الوزاري رقم 32 لسنة 2021 في شأن تعديل رسم خدمات المطار والركاب يأتي انسجاما مع ما هو مطبق في المطارات العالمية من رسوم تفرضها الدول على شركات الطيران نظير الخدمات التي تقدم لهذه الشركات. pic.twitter.com/gaSeliUmtm

— الطيران المدني (@Kuwait_DGCA) January 30, 2021

Yousef Sulaiman Al Fouzan, director General of DGCA, said that the move “comes in line with what is applied at international airports in terms of fees imposed by countries on airlines in return for the services provided to these companies”.

However, the fees are among the “lowest” compared to what is imposed at international airports, he said on Twitter.

Al Fouzan said that airports in the world have become one of the most prominent economic sectors to drive additional revenues for countries, adding that the move comes as a step in the direction of enhancing non-oil revenues for Kuwait.

“The new fees aim to create a kind of balance between the costs borne by the state to operate the airport and the revenues achieved as a result of services provided to these companies,” he said.

The decision will “raise the level of capabilities and capabilities at Kuwait International Airport”, he added.