Information AboutGulf Air |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GULF AIR | |
| airlines of bahrain | |
| airlines established in 1974 | |
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This airline is not part of an airline alliance, however, has extensive codeshare services with other airlines and special partnerships with Jet Airways and Oman Air's Frequent Flyer Programmes. HISTORY
In the late 1940s, a British pilot named Freddie Bosworth began an air taxi service for passengers to Doha and Dhahran from Bahrain. Bosworth later expanded this service and on the 24 March 1950, he registered Gulf Aviation as a private share-holding company. Seven Avro Ansons and three de Havilland DH.86B four-engine biplanes formed the fleet, but more modern aircraft were needed. Bosworth chose the de Havilland Dove but while preparing to introduce the type into service he was killed on a demonstration flight at Croydon on 9 June 1951. From 1951 to 1971, British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC ) became a major shareholder in Gulf Aviation, holding a 22% stake. During this time, Gulf Aviation commenced services to London in April 1970 with a VC10 aircraft and with the introduction of BOAC, saw a succession of more updated aircraft entering the fleet. The turning point for Gulf Aviation came about when the governments of the Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Qatar, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman purchased BOAC's shares in Gulf Aviation. Under the Foundation Treaty signed on 1 January 1974 creating a national carrier of the four States, the airline became, as it is known today, Gulf Air. With the leasing of L-1011 Tri-Star and Boeing 737s joining the fleet, by 1976, Gulf Air had expanded its route network to include the following destinations: Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bangkok, Beirut, Cairo, Colombo, Delhi, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Khartoum, Larnaca, Manila, Paris, Ras Al Khaimah and Sanaa. With the Gulf 'oil boom', Gulf Air quickly succeeded to become a renowned international airport. The fleet comprised of four Vickers VC10s, three BAC One-Elevens, two Lockheed Tri-Star 200s and five Boeing 737-200s. Two years later the Tri-Star fleet had doubled, replacing the VC10s, and the Boeing 737s had increased to nine, resulting in the phasing out of the One-Elevens. The 1980s saw an increase in air travel and growth for Gulf Air. In 1981 Gulf Air becomes an IATA member and in the following year became the first international airline to land at Riyadh. In 1988 the Boeing 767s joined the fleet and services to Frankfurt, Istanbul, Damascus, Dar Es-Salaam, Fujairah and Nairobi are launched with services to Shiraz and Baghdad resumed. Gulf Air celebrated it's 40th anniversary in 1990. The light blue and peach Balenciaga-designed uniform was introduced. Singapore, Sydney and Trivandrum are launched and Gulf Air becomes the first Arab airline to fly to Australia. In keeping with tradition of being the first for everything, Gulf Air adds Johannesburg and Melbourne to its network (1992), becoming the first Arab airline to fly directly to these cities. The following year it opened up a Flight Simulator Centre in Qatar. The same year saw the introduction of services to Casablanca, Entebbe, Jakarta, Kilimanjaro, Madras, Rome, Sanaa, Zanzibar and Zurich are launched. In May 1994, Gulf Air received its first A340-300. Gulf Air introduced a no-smoking policy on flights to Singapore and Australia in 1998 which later extended throughout its whole network. In 1999, Gulf Air also launched three new routes in North Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar. It also took delivery of two (out of six) A330-200 aircraft. To compliment this improving image, a new Balmain uniform was designed and inaugurated. 21st Century The year 2000 saw the dawn of Gulf Air's 50th Anniversary, whilst taking delivery of the remaining A330-200 aircraft in June of that year, it also launched services to Milan. In May 2002, James Hogan was announced President and CEO of Gulf Air and instigated a three year restructuring and turnaround programme, which was launched in response to a drastic fall in profits at the company and ever-increasing debt. The Gulf Air Board unanimously approved the three-year recovery plan at the Extraordinary General Meeting held on 18 December. This month also saw the withdrawal of the State of Qatar from Gulf Air. In 2003 Gulf Air's corporate image changed, as they introduced a striking new Landor designed livery. This was a statement to show that Gulf Air intended to return to its former leading position amongst other airlines. 01 June 2003 also saw the birth of Gulf Traveller , a subsidiary all economy full service airline commencing service out of Abu Dhabi. Gulf Air also announced a landmark sponsorship deal with Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix which is to last until 2010. This created the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix of which the first was staged in Airport 2004. Gulf Air also introduced direct daily flights to Athens and Sydney on the 23 November 2003. In 2004, Gulf Air introduced direct flights between Dubai and London and Muscat and London, and a daily service between Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah and showed strong growth as it carried a record 7.5 million passengers during this year. Gulf Air's sponsorship of the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix continued to reap dividends for the airline, with a record crowd, a global TV audience as well as a record number of passengers being carried to the Kingdom by the airline. A return to profit announced with the best financial performance since 1997. Despite a BD30 million (USD80 million) cost to the business through fuel price rises during the year, Gulf Air recorded a profit of BD1.5 million (USD4.0 million) in the calendar year to December 2004, on revenues up 23.8 per cent to BD476.3 million (USD1.26 billion) (2003: BD 384.6 million / USD1,020.2 million). The results meant the airline out-performed the targets set under Project Falcon, the three-year restructuring plan approved by the Board in December 2002. The owner states of Gulf Air - the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman - confirmed their support for further expansion of the airline, through a new three-year strategic plan which will include re-equipment of the aircraft fleet and recapitalisation of the business through private sector financing. Gulf Air is also placed on the IOSA registry following its successful completion of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). The new summer schedule commencing 28 April 2006 saw the complete withdrawal of Abu Dhabi (AUH) as a hub following the decision on the 13 September 2005, by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, to withdraw from Gulf Air. Gulf Air now operates on a dual hub basis between Bahrain (BAH) and Muscat (MCT) airports. The airline produced a series of adverts in local newspapers thanking Abu Dhabi for its contribution to Gulf Air. Due to the airline being the national carrier for the United Arab Emirates for over 35 years, it has a large customer base located in this country. Gulf Air endevoured to show the continuing support for flights to Abu Dhabi from Bahrain and Muscat, connecting to the the rest of the Gulf Air network via these adverts, placed in local newspapers. Gulf Air is building a state-of-the-art aircraft simulator facility, incorporating the latest technology and modern infrastructure in a unique design which is set to open at it's Bahrain Headquarters. The BD3.5 million facility will offer real-time, simulated on-board training to pilots on Boeing B767, Airbus A320 and A330/340 in three flight simulators. On the 27 April 2006, the Governments of Bahrain and Thailand signed an ' Open Skies ' agreement which will allow unlimited and an unrestricted number of flights between the two nations. Gulf Air currently operates daily flights to Bangkok from Bahrain, along with four flights a week from Muscat. With this new agreement in place, Gulf Air will double its frequency to Thailand by July 2006, with 14 flights a week between Bahrain and Thailand. INCIDENTS & ACCIDENTS 23 September 1983
23 August 2000
15 November 2005
HEATHROW (LHR) Gulf Air Schedule Gulf Air operates four scheduled flights per day from Heathrow (except Thursday).
Gulf Air Lounge Opened in September 2004, the Gulf Air departure lounge at Heathrow is located in Lounge Area H in Terminal 3. The lounge can be used by the following passengers:
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