Bahrain’s national flag carrier, Gulf Air, has been in financial trouble for years, while its much smaller national counterpart Bahrain Air has been struggling since it launched in February 2008. Both airlines struggle against larger, more powerful, mainline airlines and low cost carriers, battling with the Bahraini Government for bail outs, despite Gulf Air pledging…
On the 20th of September the Provincial Council of Iraq’s Najaf Province issued a ban on Bahrain’s national airline, Gulf Air, and flights to-and-from Bahrain to Al-Najaf International Airport. The move by the Provincial Council was enacted to support the Bahraini Shiites, the majority of Bahrain’s population, protesting the Suuni leadership in Bahrain. This…
A joint Bahraini Parliament and Shura Council Committee was established on Monday to explore whether Bahrain’s national flag carrier, Gulf Air, should be severely downsized, sold, liquidated, or either liquidating or selling the airline, then establishing a new airline. Gulf Air has struggled to become profitable, and despite the CEO’s pledge to not “request…
Back in May of this year Gulf Air’s CEO, Samer Majali stood in front of executives from the airline and announced “It is not logical to continue to request funding from the government to support the airline’s operating losses to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year; funds that could be much…
Gulf Air, one of the oldest airlines operating in the Middle East, has been facing an identity crisis over the past few years. Gulf Air has gone from a major player among Middle Eastern airlines to an airline that did not grow at the pace of its younger upstart competitors, and as a result faces…
