The
timetable comes with a range of new features offering more
frequencies between Bahrain and key GCC, MENA and Asian destinations
and upgrading fleet to certain destinations adding more capacity. The
airline has also modified its flight timings on certain routes to
avoid winter weather disruptions that may cause flight delays.
Announcing
the schedule, Gulf Air Chief Commercial Officer Mr Karim
Makhlouf said, “Following the encouraging passenger growth we
witnessed during the summer, we foresee the demand to continue
through the winter. Therefore we have decided to bring forward our
winter schedule that usually begins in late October by adding more
frequencies and capacity on several routes to facilitate our
customers with better and convenient travel options.”
He
continued, “Our leadership position in the Middle East is further
strengthened in this schedule with additional frequencies and more
capacity while the Asian sector will also see more flights to meet
the seasonal demand.”
“We
are encouraged by the strong support from our customers for whom we
are a carrier of choice as we offer one of the youngest fleet with an
average age of just 4.7 years, the best network of destinations,
excellent connectivity to different market segments, consistent and
high quality products, state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment
including the world’s first live TV, broadband internet and mobile
phone services on long haul routes, and above all, a real
value-for–money to our customers” Mr. Makhlouf concluded.
Winter
schedule highlights:
- · Seven
more flights to Dubai and Kuwait
Further
strengthening the airline’s leadership position as the largest
network operator in the region, the new winter schedule offers seven
additional flights per week each to Dubai and Kuwait.
A
new daily mid-day flight departing at 1400 hours from Bahrain to
Dubai has been added, making a total of 63 flights per week.
Flights
to Kuwait have been increased from 42 to 49 per week with the
addition of a daily morning flight departing Bahrain at 0735 hours.
This new flight connects passengers arriving from London, Mumbai,
Chennai, Kochi, Istanbul and Delhi within one hour to travel to
Kuwait. The return flight allows convenient connections to Sanaa,
Dhaka, Kathmandu, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Beirut, Khartoum and Kabul.
- · Three
additional flights to Amman offering double daily with morning and
evening flights
Following
the tremendous passenger response on this route that has seen over
75% seat load factor, flights to Jordan’s capital has been
increased from 11 to 14 per week.
With
two daily flights departing morning and evening, the schedule offers
excellent flexibility and flight choice for passengers from both
Bahrain and Amman.
- · Four
new frequencies to Beirut
Beirut
will see its weekly flights increased from seven to 11 with the
additional flights departing Bahrain at 1750 hours. The return
flights from Beirut provide convenient onward connections to the GCC
capitals, Jeddah, Dammam, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Karachi, Manila,
Addis Ababa and Khartoum via Bahrain.
- · Five
additional flights to Khartoum
Flights
to Sudan’s capital Khartoum has been increased from six to 11 per
week with one new flight departing Bahrain early morning while four
flights at 1115 hours. The new flights provide very good connectivity
to Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, and Asia via Bahrain both ways.
Passengers
from the GCC and Saudi Arabia, from where a bulk of the travellers
goes to Khartoum, particularly will be benefitted by the new
additional flights as they offer flexibility and more flight choices.
- · Additional
seat capacity to Cairo
Services
to Egyptian capital Cairo has been strengthened by introducing a
combination of wide body A330 and larger capacity brand new A321
aircraft to accommodate more passengers.
- · Increased
flights to Asian destinations
Flights
to popular Indian subcontinent destinations Dhaka, Kathmandu, and
Colombo have been increased to meet the seasonal demand. All three
capital cities will see an increase of seven flights in total per
week.
- · Flights
to Europe increased
Flights
to two European destinations, Frankfurt and Istanbul, have been
increased by one each for the winter season to meet the demand from
leisure and MICE travellers.
