KUWAIT - Kuwait Airways' revenue last year rose by 115% from 2021 and was up 10% from pre-pandemic 2019, Chairman Ali Aldokhan told a news conference on Thursday.

The state carrier posted a net loss of 55 million dinars ($180.26 million) for 2022 and still expects to break even by the end of 2024, Aldokhan said.

The airline, like its counterparts across the globe, was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added that the airline intends to operate new routes to Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest and the Saudi Arabian cities of Al-Ula, Taif and Al-Qassim in 2023.

($1 = 0.3051 Kuwaiti dinars)

(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy in Kuwait Writing by Clauda Tanios and Yousef Saba in Dubai Editing by David Goodman)