Gulf Air plans major expansion
Manama : Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, will more than double its number of aircrafts by year 2022, the company announced yesterday.
Thirty-nine new aircrafts will be added to the airline’s fleet by 2022, Gulf Air and Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani said yesterday.
Revealing the airline’s expansion plans, goals and developments at an event, he said: “Our national carrier is an integral part of the Kingdom’s economy and a critical component of its aviation infrastructure. Gulf Air’s new corporate strategy includes expansion plans and is geared towards elevating the passenger experience, promoting Bahrain’s tourism economy and bolstering the Kingdom’s aviation, transport, tourism and business infrastructures and the aviation industry as a whole.”
Al Zayani commended the airline’s workforce and management team on their efforts towards realising this plan for the national carrier’s future.
“Gulf Air’s future plans bode well for Bahrain’s aviation sector, transport and tourism infrastructures and the Kingdom as a whole,” he said.
“In four years we will be doubling what we have currently. This does not mean we will have to double the expenses. However, we will attempt to balance so that we will not impede the growth of the company with extra expenses,” he said.
Speaking about Gulf Air’s plans to buy new aircrafts, Chief Operating officer of Gulf Air Krešimir Kučko said, “Gulf air will start to welcome 39 new Boeing and Airbus aircrafts in 2018.” The aircrafts will include Boeing 787-9, Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo. In his presentation Kučko revealed some key statistics about Gulf Air. “Gulf Air carried 5,176,814 passengers in 2017 and contributes over 61 per cent to Bahrain International Airport’s total operations and capacity. 1,196,031 passengers visited Bahrain by air in 2017, 60 per cent of this was via Gulf air,” he said, adding, “Gulf Air contributes over 8 per cent of the total GDP and significantly supports indirect GDP contributions by major business suppliers and partners - BAS, BAC, Bahrain Duty Free.”
Gulf Air plans fleet expansion
“In the coming months, Gulf Air’s highly anticipated incoming fleet of 39 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft will commence delivery. A total of 7 new aircraft, 5 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 2 Airbus A320neo aircraft, will enter the airline’s fleet before the end of the year. With this development, major positive change is on the horizon. Gulf Air’s new fleet will be outfitted with superior on-board products and services,” Gulf Air said.
Airline to add eight new destinations this year
The airline plans major network expansion coinciding with its new aircraft deliveries. Gulf Air will add eight new destinations to its network this year.
In India, its current operations to Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Trivandrum and Hyderabad, will be enhanced by flights to Bangalore and Calicut.
Gulf Air will also commence flights to the Saudi Arabian cities of Abha and Tubuk.
This will expand its Saudi Arabia operations to complement its current service to Dammam, Riyadh, Madina Al Munawarah, Jeddah and Gassim.
Gulf Air’s Cairo operations will be supplemented by direct flights to Alexandria and flights to Sharm El Shaikh. The airline will also launch operations to Baku in Azerbaijan and to Casablanca in Morocco.
Alongside this, frequency changes to key routes in 2018 will enhance Gulf Air’s offering of seamless movement to and from Bahrain – and across its network. Gulf Air will increase its flights during the peak summer period by 200 more weekly flights compared to 2017.
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