Just a quick question, I'm going to be booking my flights soon and one of the cheapest options that keeps popping up is Kuwait airlines, which has a 4.5hr transit in Kuwait, I've tried looking online and I'm a little unsure if I need a transit visa, some information I've found says over 4hrs I do but others say under 24hrs and I don't, can anyone advise please. Thanks in advance
If you stay airside and dont leave the transit area I dont believe you need a visa as your not entering Kuwait
If Kuwait airlines it the carrier from the UK to Kuwait and Kuwait to Philippines and you are staying inside the airport airside before your flight to the Philippines then there is no way you need a visa. You only need a visa if you plan to leave the airport and explore Kuwait. P.S. Kuwait Airlines are frickin awful, I got rebooked onto them on a return flight from Manila on January 2nd when my KLM Jan 1st flight got cancelled, never again horrible flight, horrible service, horrible transit experience massive delays, just awful.
Correct it's not the carrier, if the rules of the country state that a particular inbound passenger of a particular nationality requires a visa then you need a visa, but the UK has pretty good bilateral agreements with most countries and UK passengers in Kuwait airport would not be subject to transit visa rules, and from my own experience transiting Kuwait was not a problem, although it was a frickin awful experience.
The experience doesn't matter, I just need to keep the cost of flights down and they are the cheapest by far
Because the OP said that " soon and one of the cheapest options that keeps popping up is Kuwait airlines". He's looking at price and I have experience of Kuwait Airlines, that's all.
Their national carrier's correct name is Kuwait Airways but it's a minor point, Kuwait Airlines means the same thing.
I've taken the cheap Kuwait airlines flight before. Make sure you have something to read or something to keep yourself occupied. It is grim inside the terminal if you're waiting in the terminal for some hours.
If you don't mind me asking what kind of price are you being quoted? And what are your flights dates approximately?
Next month me, my baby son (both UK nationals) and my Filipina wife (Philippine passport and BRP living with me in UK) are flying LHR to MNL via Kuwait. Both there and back we have under 2hr layovers. I've read conflicting reports about Visas, not sure if we need them for such a short stopover, anybody know for sure?
As long as you are staying airside and not passing through immigration at the lay over airport then no you dont
