After a long period with a declining presence in the region, Gulf Air is spoiling for a comeback. Chief executive Krešimir Kučko explains more about the European and North American ambitions of Bahrain’s state-owned carrier.
After restructuring its operations Gulf Air has been able to better control its future growth after successfully eradicating legacy debts reducing annual losses from BHD62.7 million in 2014 to BHD24.1 million in 2015. Ahead of this, its annual debts were as high as BHD196 million in 2012.
From the start of the forthcoming winter schedule, British Airways is to introduce new non-stop flights from London Heathrow to both Doha, Qatar and Muscat, Oman. Both destinations are already part of the airline’s network but are currently served with one-stop direct flight routings via Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace handed over a CSeries to North African carrier Nile Air during this week’s Routes Middle East & Africa forum in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. The CS100 model was presented to Mohamed El Sheriff, revenue and planning manager at the Egyptian carrier on the final morning of the event following its traditional event business card draw on the manufacturer’s stand.
In an official welcome address to delegates at the Routes Middle East & Africa Strategy Summit and the Gulf Conference Centre in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah, chief executive officer, Bahrain Airport Company, the host of this year’s inaugural forum, highlighted how the airport intends to continue its growth to support an increase in visitor arrivals into the Kingdom.
Bahrain International Airport, host of this year's inaugural Routes Middle East and Africa, is growing to cater to anticipated demand and allowed delegates to see first-hand how it intends to modernise the facility to support growth in arrivals to the Kingdom.
While the first chartered flight may have landed in Bahrain in 1927, the first scheduled commercial flight only arrived in the Kingdom in 1932, en-route from London to Delhi, carrying 24 passengers and establishing Bahrain as the Gulf’s first international airport.
Bahrain International Airport’s new state-of-the-art terminal is set to make a big impression on passengers and significantly enhance airline operations, writes Joe Bates for our sister magazine, Routes News.
Designed to build on the success of Routes Africa 2014 Routes Middle East & Africa will bring together over 300 delegates from across Africa and the Middle East to meet and discuss route development opportunities across the region.
The inaugural Routes Middle East & Africa is designed to build on the success of the regional Routes Africa 2014 event, and will take place in the Kingdom of Bahrain from May 31 – June 2, 2015.
The national carrier of Bahrain has announced two new destinations to its network in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, taking the number of Saudi Arabian cities served by the airline to six.
Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has announced its plans to increase its direct services to Trivandrum International Airport, Thiruvananthapuram with a daily operation launching from December 5, 2014.
Bahrain, which is located in the Arabian Gulf, has a history of aviation that dates back to the early 1920's. Historically it has acted as a gateway between the East and West providing a natural transit destination for early trade routes and a strategic hub for the Northern Gulf.
The resumed Gulf Air service between Athens and Bahrain will offer passengers improved connections between Greece and Bahrain. When the route was previously flown by the carrier up to 11,000 annual bi-directional O&D passengers flew between the two countries.
