Manama: Gulf Air on Sunday said that it has successfully sold two of its Airbus A340s to an affiliate of Apollo Aviation Group in Florida, USA. The sale is an important step in realising Gulf Air's fleet realignment strategy to create a profitable and sustainable national carrier for Bahrain, the company said.

“At 16 years of age, these A340-300s were the two oldest aircraft in Gulf Air's fleet and had been previously withdrawn from service.  Gulf Air's decision to sell these aircraft has relieved the company of the impending requirement to invest US$ 25 million in order for the aircraft to continue in service. These capital expenditures were not in line with the company's fleet realignment strategy,” the airline said.

“The completion of this sale is a milestone achievement for Gulf Air as it strives to become a profitable and sustainable airline by 2012.”