Kuwait Air is said to plan cutting about 1,500 expatriate jobs

Kuwait Airways is planning to lay off as many as 1,500 expatriate employees in response to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The state-owned carrier is currently assessing the plan and the process should take about two weeks to complete, the person said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The lay-off will involve employees across all departments, according to the person.

The loss-making airline employs about 7,800 staff, of which 1,350 are Kuwaiti nationals. Before the virus crisis hit, it had planned to hire an additional 1,000 people this year, the person said.