Dubai: Bahrain’s struggling national carrier, Gulf Air, could be forced to hand back a BD185 million (Dh1,802,257,) bailout to the government, according to reports out of Bahrain.
A Bahraini English language newspaper — Gulf Daily News reported that the Bahraini parliament has urged members of parliament to veto a royal decree that handed Gulf Air the bailout more than year ago.
Last year Bahrain’s parliament and Shura Council rejected a request from Gulf Air to be handed BD664.3 million cash injection. The government instead proposed heavy cost cutting measure including significant layouts and a BD185 million bailout.
But Bahrain’s parliament never voted on its proposed bailout, instead a royal decree granted the cash injection in October last year during a parliamentary recess.
According to Gulf Daily News one Bahraini politician said voting down the last years decree is a symbolic gesture at the decision to grant the bailout in their absence.
Parliament and the Shura Council both need to approve the veto for the bailout to be rejected. However, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has the authority to overrule both chambers.
Gulf Air and Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who is the governing body for setting laws and regulations related to aviation issues, could not be reached for comment.
