Gulf Air to get new planes in summer

Manama, May 13 (BNA): As, Gulf Air Bahrain’s national carrier, is reinforcing a balance between the Eastern and the Western routes, the airline is expecting two more planes this summer to bolster its existing and upcoming frequencies. Krešimir Kučko, Gulf Air’s Chief Executive Officer, on the sidelines of annual Ramadan Ghabgha attended by trade partners, VIPs, media representatives, told Bahrain News Agency, there has been a focus on bolstering the airliner’s capacity, routes and efficiency wherever the airline operates. “Gulf Air is adding two new destinations Malaga and Salalah and we must balance between West and East by either increasing the frequencies on the existing routes or adding destinations because we want to maintain the leading positions in terms of network in the region. Our network is the strongest in the region, but we need to spread more in the East at the moment, so we are exploring options,” the CEO said. The event was also attended by Zayed Al Zayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, who is also Chairman of Gulf Air Board and Captain Waleed Al Alawi Gulf Air’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In terms of Far Eastern destinations, the CEO said, the airline continues to explore options to maximise the benefits on these routes but we also need look into the European routes to get better results. This year started well for Gulf Air and from the beginning of 2019, there has been a thrust to meet and beat the budget projections, he added. “Our route factor is budgeted at 77 per cent and we had excellent figures in April, for example, so we are doing much better than many regional peers and operators,” he said, adding, overall the first quarter of the year was good as the airline had the best February in the past seven years and the best , month of March in the past 10 years. “We are adding capacity slowly and we are producing better results per unit. We are look forward to adding new destinations and we would like to add Goa and we will be working on it. This year Gulf Air will get a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and an Airbus 320neos.”