Gulf Air upgrades Baku aircraft for Arsenal, Chelsea fans

May 23 (BNA): Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, has upgraded its aircraft scheduled to operate to Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport on May 29. The move aims to facilitate and ease travel of both Arsenal and Chelsea football clubs fans attending the UEFA Europa League final. The airline said it would operate its flagship Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to allow more fans to travel and watch the big game between the two English giants. With 26 seats in Falcon Gold and 256 in economy class seats, the state-of-the-art Dreamliner will be operated for the first time on the Bahrain-Baku route to cater to the increasing demand from football fans around the Gulf Air’s network to witness the highly anticipated football match of the season. "The commercial team at Gulf Air is very responsive to events and happenings around our expanding network," Gulf Air’s CEO Krešimir Kučko said. "When the demand forecast showed an increase, we managed to upgrade the operating aircraft on May 29 to our new Dreamliner. The B787-9 has much more capacity than the regular scheduled aircraft to Baku and we are happy to offer this opportunity to all football fans of Arsenal and Chelsea." Gulf Air operates five weekly flights between Bahrain International Airport and Heydar Aliyev International Airport. Baku as a Gulf Air destination has shown increasing demand since it was launched in 2018, the company said. Gulf Air launched operations in 1950, becoming one of the first commercial airlines established in the Middle East. Today, it serves 49 cities in 26 countries.