The board of Jazeera Airways (J9, Kuwait) has approved leasing two A320-200s and two A321-200s at a board meeting held in Kuwait on May 2, 2023. The aircraft will provide the Kuwaiti budget carrier with capacity ahead while awaiting deliveries of A320neo family aircraft from Airbus.

According to a filing with the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), the transaction is expected to have a positive impact on the carrier's revenues and operations "but the immediate impact cannot be quantified." Jazeera Airways presently operates a fleet of nine A320-200s and eleven A320-200Ns, 16 of which are leased. In notes accompanying a May 3 earnings call, the airline said it expects to grow its fleet to 24 by the end of the year. Jazeera Airways has an outstanding order with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for twenty A320-200Ns and eight A321-200Ns.

In March, ch-aviation reported that Jazeera Airways was wet-leasing an A320-200 from Dan Air (JOC, Bucharest Baneasa) to provide a short-term capacity top up over the Ramadan, Eid, and Umrah Pilgrimage peaks ahead of additional aircraft arriving in mid-2023.

Jazeera Airways also reported this week that 2023 is shaping up as a busier year than 2022 and that yields have "completely normalised and expected to continue within normal parameters." The airline expects a busy summer season and says it will give greater attention to connecting flights focusing on Umrah, commuting, students and business travel. Jazeera Airways also recently announced that it will resume flights to Prague Václav Havel and Sarajevo over the upcoming summer.