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A Kuwaiti budget airline said Saturday it is offering free air tickets to all women who wish to travel to Kuwait later this month for the first election in which women can campaign and vote.
"We want to ensure that as many women as possible have the available access to return to Kuwait to vote in these historic elections," Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai Jazeera Airways, Kuwait's first private airline, said in a statement.
"We are also extending the invitation to women of every nationality to fly Jazeera Airways to Kuwait to observe the historic elections," Boodai said.
Kuwaiti women, who were granted the right to vote last year, are taking part in parliamentary elections for the first time on June 29.
Thirty women candidates are among about 340 hopefuls running for the 50-seat fully-elected parliament.
Women of any nationality can avail of the offer if they travel from one of eight cities from which the low-fare Jazeera Airways operates while seats remain available. The cities include Beirut, Amman, Dubai, Damascus, Aleppo, in addition to Alexandia, Luxor and Bahrain.
The eligible flights depart on June 28 or 29. The offer is valid only for one-way airfare and meals are not provided by the airline.
"We believe its our role to encourage women to come home to vote. Who they vote for is entirely up to them, we just want to make sure that they are given every opportunity to return home, without cost or expense to exercise their democratic right to vote," said Boodai.
The airline, which launched its maiden flight in October, is operating two brand-new Airbus A320s and is expecting delivery of two more within the next two weeks, spokesman Fawaz al-Sirri told AFP.
Jazeera plans to start flying to New Delhi and Mumbai in India from the beginning of next month, he said.
Its tickets to all destinations cost as low as 50 dollars, including taxes, per passenger.
Jazeera was established in May 2004 as a shareholding company with a capital of 34 million dollars, 30 percent of which is owned by a group of core founders while the rest was offered to the public on May 26.
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AFP 171015 GMT 06 06
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