Calls for probe into Kuwait's airport tech

Unionists and MPs in Kuwait are calling for aviation authorities to investigate an incident involving a Lufthansa flight to the Gulf state last week, and to upgrade the airport’s out of date technology, local media have reported. Problems with Kuwait airport’s navigation systems following a sandstorm last Friday are said to have occured after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ignored calls to upgrade airport equipment, some of which was more than 25 years old. “We have been expecting a tragic aviation accident to take place,” said Rajab Al-Refaei, head of the labour union at the DGCA, quoted in the Kuwait Times. The Al-Rai newspaper also quoted union member Abdul-Aziz Al-Muhailan that much of the airport’s equipment had been installed in 1984, 1991 and 1995. Government officials have voiced their concerns over the incident involving the Lufthansa flight. MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said DGCA officials should launch an immediate investigation into the case, and find out why no backup plans were taken, while Kuwait’s minister of communications Salem Al-Othainah stressed he was keen to follow up the issue.