The Kuwaiti parliament is considering keeping Kuwait Airways in state hands by reducing the proportion of shares its impending sale to 25 percent.
The debt-riddled airline is already be prepped for privatisation under legislation passed five years’ ago.
Under that plan, the state would retain only 20 percent of the airline, with 40 percent allocated to each citizens and investors.
On Sunday, the parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee reportedly discussed raising the state’s stake to 75 percent.
Committee spokesman MP Mohammad Al Jabri told the parliament the airline had accepted the proposal but Kuwait Investment Authority, which holds the government stake, was reluctant, Kuwait Times said.
Last month, Kuwait Airways received the first of about 20 new planes it has leased and purchased from Boeing and Airbus. They were the first new aircraft in nearly two decades.