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17 - 20 Januari 2018
| From 17 to 20 January 2018, the inaugural Kuwait Aviation Show was held. Venue for this was Kuwait City International |
| airport, the ramp adjacent to the Amiri VVIP flight terminal to be exact. Kuwait is not visited by many tourists, let |
| alone aircraft enthusiasts. So frankly, we did not know what to expect. It turned out to be rather more laid back than |
| we expected. Security was in place, but the whole atmosphere was far more relaxed than in Bahrain for example. |
| Access to the show was possible each day for media and traders from 09:00 hours. The general public could only enter on |
| Friday and Saturday. Tickets were available online beforehand, so no worries if you do not have an accreditation as media |
| or trader. |
| The airshow | |||
| The planned kick-off for Wednesday was to be a fly-by of a Kuwait Airways B777 plus four F/A-18s. However, this did not | |||
| materialize at first. The B777 from the static was towed away and took off later on. So maybe the planned airframe went |
| unserviceable. Anyway, this meant that the 3-ship AH-64D flypast opened the flying display followed by Soloturk’s F-16 |
| aerobatics. After that, the B777 and Hornets came along and the show was concluded with the Saudi Hawks’ display. On the |
| other days, none of the Kuwaiti military hardware was present in the aerial display, except for a Super Puma that did a |
| para-drop on Thursday. Two Extra 330s did some displays on these days as well and that was about it. |
| So, was this fist KAS a success? Well, it was for us! It provided an excellent opportunity to see some Kuwaiti military |
| aircraft. However, there were quite some empty boots and it was not that busy with people. Hopefully the attending companies |
| managed to secure some deals so we can enjoy another KAS, maybe in 2020. |
| Apart from the airshow, the International airport also houses Al Mubarak Air Base. KAF’s transport and VIP helicopters are |
| based there and a US Air Base is also part of the military area. The southernmost ramp is used by tanker and cargo supportaircraft. |
| In this case Canadian and Italian tankertransports were temporarily based and an occasional USAF C-17A dropped in. |
| Static: | |||
| KAF013 | AH-64D | 17/22sq | FMS 04-0013 |
| KMOI-07 | AS365N3+ | Police | exhibition hall |
| MOH-4 | Bell 429 | Min. of Health | 57231 |
| KAF343 | C-17A | 41sq | FMS 13-0002 |
| 432 | F/A-18C | 25sq |
| 149 | Hawk Mk64 | 12sq |
| KAF327 | KC-130J | 41sq |
| KAF996 | S-92A | 91sq | 92-0139 |
| KAF523 | SA342L | Ali al Salem | 1379 |
| KAF107 | Tucano T52 | 19sq |
| MAB | C-17A | QEAF | FMS 08-0202/88277 |
| A6-FLO | ERJ135BJ | Falcon Avn Services |
| A6-SBK | AW169 | Falcon Avn Services | 69031 |
| A7-ALT | A350-941 | Qatar Airways |
| A7-CCC | DA42NG | 42N-302 |
| A7-DIA | DA62 | 62-051 |
| A7-FCB | PA-34-220T | 34-48024 |
| A7-GCC | DA42NG | 42N-187 |
| A7-GHB | AW139 | Gulf Helicopters |
| A7-KAA | DA62 | 62-042 |
| HZ-RW3 | Tecnam P2006T |
| 9H-INV | CL-604 | Flex Flight |
| 9K-AOH | B777-300ER | Kuwait Airways |
| (9K)... | G1159 | College of Aviation |
| N650GA | G-650ER | Gulfstream |
| N666FS | Beech G58 | TH-2237 |
| N725SA | DA42NG | 42N-021 |
| N965HH | Beech 350 | FL-321 |
| UR-CIF | Il-76TD | EGAS aero | 1023412395 |
| Flying only: | |||
| KAF014, KAF015 | AH-64D | 17/22sq | 17 |
| KAF016 | AH-64D | 17/22sq | 17 |
| ... | AS332 | paradrop | 18 |
| 407, 409 | F/A-18C | 9sq | 17 |
| 412, 426 | F/A-18C | 25sq | 17 |
| Amiri terminal area: | |||
| 9K-GBB | A340-542 (ACJ) | Government | 19 |
| 9K-GGB | G-650 | Government | 18-19 |
| 9K-GGD | G-650 | Government | 18 |
| Military ramps, Police area and other traffic: | |||
| KAF342 | C-17A | 41sq | |
| KAF326 | KC-130J | 41sq | 18, dep |
| KAF328 | KC-130J | 41sq | 18 |
| KAF323, KAF324 | L-100-30 | Stored? |
| KAF325 | L-100-30 | Stored | half in hangar |
| KAF993 | S-92A | 91sq | 17 |
| KAF994 +1 | S-92A | 91sq | 18 |
| KMOI-03 | AS365N3 | Police | 18 |
| KMOI-04 | AS365N3 | Police | 17 |
| (KMOI-06) | AS365N3+ | Police | 18 |
| KMOI-02 | EC135T1 | Police | 19 |
| (213/C) | Hunter F57 | Preserved | on base |
| 53-412/C | Lightning F53 | Preserved | on base |
| A9C-BHR | G-450 | Amiri Flight | 18 |
| 15004 | CC-150 | 437sq | new c/s 18-20 |
| 15005 | CC-150 | 437sq | old c/s 17 |
| MM62229/14- | KC-767A | 8°Gruppo | 17-18 |
| 211/MAH | C-130J-30 | 12sq | 17 |
| 475 | C-130H | 4sq | 16 |
| 8805, 8806 | Hawk Mk65A | 88sq / Saudi Hawks |
| 8811, 8816 | Hawk Mk65A | 88sq / Saudi Hawks |
| 8817, 8819 | Hawk Mk65A | 88sq / Saudi Hawks |
| 8820, 8821 | Hawk Mk65A | 88sq / Saudi Hawks |
| (88)-0025 | F-16C | Solo Turk demoteam |
| 88-0029 | F-16C | Solo Turk demoteam | special colours |
| 07-7173 | C-17A | 436th AW | 19 |
| 07-7176 | C-17A | 436th AW | 17 |
| The tankers flew missions and above does not represent a full report of their movements. Another C-17A departed Friday |
| morning the 19th, around 07:30. |
Credits: Michel van Schaik, Erwin van Dijkman
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