Cooper joins the carrier after two years as chief executive at air services company OnAir. Prior to that he had been vice-president at the air transport communications and IT group Sita.

He has also previously been a director of regional operations at British Airways, as well as managing several of that company’s subsidiary airlines.

Kuwait National Airways is set to launch in January next year, targeting the premium market. The airline has leased three Airbus A320s for delivery ahead of the launch, and plans to grow the fleet by up to five aircraft a year, eventually purchasing wide-bodied planes for long-haul operations. The company raised over $180 million in a public offering in 2006.