Manama: Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, said on Tuesday that it would soon launch flights to Aden and re-launch services to Colombo.
Services to Aden via Sana'a will start on September 22 with four weekly flights by an A319 aircraft while Colombo services will begin on October 5 with five flights per week using an A320 aircraft.
Gulf Air hopes that the routes will attract business from visiting family and relatives, the business diplomatic service communities and the tourism industry.
Niche markets
"The launching of services to these two new destinations demonstrates our new business strategy to identify and expand our operations into niche and under-served markets and, create potentially high yield city-pairs by providing direct service to Bahrain and beyond," CEO Samer Majali said.
"Gulf Air is establishing a leadership position as the first Gulf carrier to connect Aden to the region as currently no other Gulf carriers are serving this city.
As the commercial capital of Yemen, Aden presents enormous opportunity for Gulf Air to establish itself in this new market.
Promising investments
The city has recently been included in the Yemen government's development priorities with major plans to support the city's trade zone, port, airport and private sector and by attracting promising investments."
Colombo is not new for Gulf Air and the airline flew to the Sri Lankan capital from 1976 until March 2005.
"I am glad the time has come for us to re-connect with the capital of Sri Lanka.
"Besides being the country's largest base for commerce and trade, Colombo is also a popular tourist destination with fabulous cultural attractions," Majali said.
