IOR/L/PS/12/1961

The file contains correspondence regarding civil aviation matters in Kuwait (also spelt Koweit in the file). The primary focus is the negotiation of a Civil Air Agreement between the British Government and the Shaikh of Kuwait, Shaikh Sir Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ] in 1934, its subsequent renewal in 1938, 1945, and discussion related to its possible further renewal in 1948. Draft and final copies of each agreement can be found within the file; a 1934 copy contains both English and Arabic versions of the document (see folio 185-187). Correspondence related to occasional amendments has also been included.

Also discussed in the correspondence is the granting of permission for Imperial Airways (later the British Overseas Airways Corporation - BOAC) to land in Kuwait in September 1932 for a period of six months, and the establishment of an airmail service in 1948. It also contains some correspondence relating to British military requirements in Kuwait, and the transfer of the maintenance of the Kuwait Aerodrome from the Royal Air Force (RAF) to the Kuwait Oil Company.

The file also contains proposals from the Kuwait Oil Company for the construction of a new aerodrome in 1948, including two plans for the proposed airstrip (see folios 20-21).

In addition to the copy of the Kuwait Civil Air Agreement (1934), the file contains a limited amount of correspondence with both English and Arabic translation.

The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, and the Political Agent at Kuwait. The file also contains correspondence with the following departments of the British Government: the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, the India Office (the Commonwealth Relations Office from August 1947), and the Ministry for Civil Aviation.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.