Gulf Air announces a summer of success

MANAMA, Bahrain – Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, today announced its best performance in the airline’s 58-year history.

MANAMA, Bahrain – Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, today announced its best performance in the airline’s 58-year history.

During the summer months, Gulf Air enjoyed its highest revenue and load factors on record and attained a 12% year on year increase in yield and a 16% increase on revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK). The airline also achieved the highest aircraft utilization in the region and expects to carry six million passengers in 2008 with 27 aircraft, making it the third largest airline in the region measured in passenger numbers. Gulf Air also now has the busiest network in the Gulf and Middle East region.

The airline is almost 12 months into an ambitious alignment strategy, which will see it emerge as a premium, network carrier with selective global reach and the airline of choice when traveling to the Middle East and beyond.

“This excellent performance signals that our strategy is clearly working. Our revamped network with a customer-friendly schedule, improved punctuality and strategic business alignment, have all contributed to these achievements,” said Gulf Air chief executive officer, Mr. Björn Näf.

He continued, “These are exciting times for Gulf Air as we continue our momentum towards sustainable growth and introducing even higher standards in our product and services. As we gear up for our new, expanded winter schedule with new flights and new partners, I am confident that we can continue to achieve even greater success and customer satisfaction.”

Encouraged by the high seat load factors in Europe, which reached 93% in August, and in line with its growth strategy, Gulf Air will introduce two additional frequencies on its Frankfurt and Paris operations on its new winter schedule and has set its sights on opening four new destinations next year.

Mr. Tero Taskila, Gulf Air chief strategy officer said, “Our strategy towards fleet optimization and right-sizing of aircraft has contributed to this summer success. Our network strategy is based on providing our customers greater choice and seamless connectivity. We aim to deliver a minimum double-daily service on all our routes across our entire network. We will also continue to expand our network to strategic destinations.”

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...