Gulf Air cuts daily losses as restructure takes hold

Manama: Gulf Air is now losing less than $700,000 a day, down from the daily $1 million loss it was incurring before the launch of its restructuring programme.

But the company, now solely owned by Bahrain after the withdrawal of Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman, said that it had no plans to add new routes to its existing schedule.

"We are now focusing on bringing down our losses through various schemes as we seek to keep pace with the expanding economy in Bahrain. We have no plans for new routes in the next few months," chairman of Gulf Air's board of directors Mahmoud Al Kooheji yesterday told Gulf News.

The company yesterday added a Boeing 737-800 to its fleet to meet its winter needs.

Demand

"December will be a month of high demand and we look forward to meeting the rush of passengers flying from and to Bahrain," he said.

The Boeing 737-800 was leased for 18 months from XL Airways, a German company, and delivered to Gulf Air on Friday.

"The aircraft will be used on our routes to Dubai and other Gulf destinations, Beirut and Karachi. We want Gulf Air to be the airline of choice and this addition will boost its operational efficiency," he said.

The plane will begin operations with Gulf Air this morning, flying first to Dubai and then to Beirut in the afternoon.

"As expected, our newly-revamped network is already reaping benefits and the new aircraft will complement Gulf Air's hub and spoke operations from Bahrain," Al Kooheji said.